


Warmth

by Komatsu



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Masturbation, Romance, Sexual Content, They're snowed in, aaand now there's smut, that's it that's the fic, there will probably be sex eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-12-11 19:39:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 68,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11721159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Komatsu/pseuds/Komatsu
Summary: One day, one world, upon visiting Gravemark Village, Ringabel and Edea find themselves stuck in a blizzard. Luckily, there are cabins in which they can take shelter while it blows over. Except… it blows over far longer than they expect. Will they both leave the cabin alive?





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> A "snowed in" fic was requested of me, and I started work on this around September of 2016. The bulk of what's posted here was actually completed around the same time, but then I stalled because I had Ideas - I wanted to take it a bit further than a simple snowed in fic. Wanting to post it completed is what kept me from posting it for so long, so now it's here while I continue to work on the rest.
> 
> Note that all characters are assumed to be 18 and over.

"It's getting dark," Ringabel commented, his breath fogging up in the frigid air. He immediately tugged his scarf back over his mouth and nose. He stood behind Edea, close, but far enough to give her the space she needed as she wandered between graves.

"I know," Edea confessed. She looked up from the grave she'd been reading and back toward the mountain path. Behind them, the sun was just about to set. "We should get going."

"Going in this weather?"

They both turned to see one of the old men of Gravemark Village, the few who had been left alive when the plague had released its hold on the village. Its keepers. He was bundled up tightly against the cold, and now he stopped to speak to them.

"Well, it is late," Edea pointed out. "We left our friends in Eternia and we need to head back."

Edea had wanted to see more of the village where her parents had grown up. She'd wanted to for a while, but things had been so urgent in the first world, and the second, and the third… now, they were exhausted, mentally and physically. That meant that, despite their fairy's protests, they were taking side-trips and extra time on their regular activities. With that in mind, she had dragged Ringabel along with her to Gravemark for protection and "monster-bait" as she had put it, leaving Agnes behind in Eternia and Tiz to watch over her. The two of them had needed some time alone together, in Edea's opinion, and Agnes disliked travelling in the snow if she could avoid it.

"Yes, I know. But there's a blizzard coming along. You'll get lost in that," the man explained, and they followed his gaze toward approaching dark clouds. "We have extra cabins for visitors to stay in. You're the daughter of the Grand Marshal, yes? Your family's home is still standing. We keep it clean. "

"I… don't know about this," Edea said, looking up at Ringabel.

"We should stay the night," he suggested, smiling at her. "You've stayed here before, haven't you? With the Grand Marshal? I'm sure it'll be like a sleepover this time."

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" she grumbled, ducking her chin into the thick coat she wore. But he had a point. The old man had a point. They were all Eternians; they all knew how much colder it could be at night, and with a blizzard on top of that. Edea would prefer to be stuck in a cabin with Ringabel, than to be stuck in a cave with him while waiting out the storm, or worse.

The cabin the old man showed them was small, but familiar. Had it been the same one she and her father had stayed at that night so long ago? She couldn't quite remember, but it was sombering to think that this was the same place her father had grown up, and perhaps where she would have grown up as well, had the Great Plague never happened.

There were no photos in the old place, no personal items at all. It seemed as though it was rarely looked after, with a thick layer of dust over everything, and bare, a mostly empty room with the minimum of furniture. Edea made a face. At least the ceiling was free of leaks, and the walls were mostly wind proof, though there was a small draft from the back. Old, dirty oil lamps were protected from the draft by their glass covers, and the three of them set a series throughout the entire room, lighting them one by one.

The old man handed them a stack of blankets. "Here you are… the extra blankets we have. The Women's Association in Eternia always sends us new ones every year, bless them. We have enough for an entire army now." He chuckled. "You'll find supplies and other items. It's been some time since we've had visitors over, after all. Still, there's some things here and there."

The wind blew behind him, and brought with it fresh flurries of snow that dusted the worn wooden floor. They all shivered.

"I'd best be off," the old man said, thrusting his hands back into his pockets. "You children can see our cabin from here. If you need the help of these old men, don't hesitate to come fetch us."

"Thank you," Ringabel said, and he closed the door once the man had walked some ways away, though he struggled against the wind. Leaning against the old wood, the blond looked over at Edea, who was unfolding some of the blankets. "Well now. It seems we're all alone, eh?"

"Sure," Edea agreed. "And since we don't have anything to eat, I'm going to cook you up in a stew so I don't starve to death."

"I'm all skin and bones!" he protested, clasping his hands to his face in horror. "I wouldn't make a very good meal." Terrified, he wrapped his arms around himself and backed away from Edea as she approached.

But he was backed up against a wall, and soon enough she was close enough to grab his face and pull on his cheeks. "Your big head will be enough to feed me for a week!" she said with a laugh, and then leaned in to gnaw on one of his arms.

Ringabel found himself laughing as well as she gnawed loudly but lightly, her teeth barely felt through the leather of his jacket. "Is this like that horror story we heard about as children? Feasting on the blood of the beautiful to retain your youth?"

Edea stopped gnawing and stared up at him, her blue eyes narrowing. "Wasn't that supposed to be the blood of  _virgins_ , Ringabel? And if there's anyone who needs to retain their youth, it's you, you gray-headed old man."

Ringabel immediately flushed, then pouted, then looked away with a frown. "It's not gray, it's platinum, Edea! There's hints of blonde in it when we're in the sun." He couldn't quite bring himself to look back at her just yet, and only glanced in her direction when she stepped away again. He lifted a hand to wipe her spit off his jacket.

"It looks gray in this light," she pointed out, and they both fell silent as they surveyed the cabin, what little they could see.

It consisted of one large room, and what Ringabel assumed - hoped - was a bathroom through the one of the two doors on the opposite wall. The kitchen, if one could call it that, took up most of the entrance side of the room, with wooden counters that were rough with splitters and age, and a small metal sink that had seen better days. There was a small stove with two small burners, but that seemed secondary to the wooden stove that was facing out toward the rest of the cabin. A small stack of wood was next to it.

He headed over to start a fire. Thankfully, he and Edea both knew fire spells, and wouldn't have to worry about gathering flint or tinder. The sooner he could get a fire going, the better.

He could see additional wood packed into the space underneath a rickety ladder that led to a loft. Edea was now climbing up said ladder, her head nearly reaching the slanted ceiling as she ascended. He watched her movements.

"Huh," she said, her voice breaking the silence as he threw pieces of wood into the stove. "It looks like they were using this place for storage. There's some more blankets up here." She crawled into the small space, and he could hear her rolling around.

"Then we won't need to worry about the cold," he replied. "Ah, and here I was hoping to share a blanket with you tonight, to warm your body with the heat from my heart."

"Your bones can warm my stomach later." Edea popped her head over the ledge of the loft before she shimmied over it, dropping onto the wood floor below with a loud noise.

A bed stood nearby. It was large and old, but had stood the test of time. Excellent craftsmanship. Edea walked over to it, reaching her hand out to feel the thick logs that made up the footboard, fingers tracing over the carvings in the wood. Was this where her parents had slept at one time? Her grandparents?

The mattress looked firm, stuffed with straw or hay that she hoped was fresh. She gingerly pressed down on it, but couldn't feel anything that felt off. The old man had mentioned that they kept some cabins for visitors to stay, but she couldn't imagine that happened often. When was the last time the mattress had been changed? It wasn't like they had many choices, though, and she'd slept on worse.

She laid a thick comforter over the mattress to cover the rough burlap fabric, then sat down. Only a roughly carved out divider separated the sleeping area from the living area. There was also a heavy writing desk and a small eating table with three chairs, and two doors. One led outside, she was sure, based on the way that she could feel the wind through it. The other…

"Oh good, there's a toilet here," she said, and entered, closing the door behind her.

Ringabel finally had the fire going to his satisfaction, and looked up just as the door shut. Yes, that was very good. He stood to his feet, wincing as his joints protested, and stretched as he looked around the room. The room felt familiar; he was sure he'd stayed here with the Grand Marshal at one point himself, but that memory was at the edge of his mind, fuzzy and out of reach, no matter how much he stretched. It was as if only the tips of his fingers could brush it…

"Augh," he grumbled, pushing the heel of his hands into his eyes before dragging them down his entire face. His memories had mostly returned by this point, but holes and frayed edges still plagued him. It was more than annoying… and not something he wanted to think about when he and Edea were alone. He liked spending time with her. He cherished it. There was no point in wasting time on his own problems.

While Edea did her business in the toilet, he looked around the rest of the cabin for supplies. Hopefully they had food of some sort - he was too young to die! Edea and he had some packed some snacks for the trip and for a small picnic - if one could call eating in the middle of a graveyard a picnic - but Edea had long polished those off, and they had only water left. He was familiar with going without food for days, but Edea wasn't, and he would never put her through that if he could help it otherwise.

Looking around some more solved that problem. Ringabel could see a large pile of wooden crates stacked on the other side of the kitchen, almost under the table.

The other cabins were used for storage, after all. The men who stayed behind in the forsaken village were cared for by their remaining family members who had moved to Eternia to escape the memories. Ringabel dragged out one of the crates and to his relief recognized at least some food stuffs. Now to just see what was edible, not that it would matter much to Edea.

"What were you doing?" she asked when she opened the door moments later. He had upended the crate onto the floor, and potatoes had rolled across the room. She stooped now to pick one up, dusting dirt from it.

"Looking for something to feed us with," he replied absently as he sorted the food into piles. Some of it would need to be thrown out. It was old and rotten, though had been kept dry in the cabin. The potatoes were hardy and the soft spots could be cut away. There was a collection of lentils and beans, and a decent supply of spices, though they looked faded. Some flour and a glass container full of smoked, salted meat. It was dry, but nothing a soak in some water couldn't fix. And in the very center, a small paper bag full of coffee beans. He sighed in relief.

"You know I was kidding about eating you, right?" Edea crouched beside him and handed him the potato she'd retrieved from some feet away.

"I know that," he said, offering her a smile. "But if we're to make the hike back to Eternia tomorrow morning, we'll need breakfast even if we don't eat dinner."

"I… suppose you're right." She dragged close a nearby metal pot and threw the potatoes into it.

Hauling the pot over to the sink, she turned the faucet on. Ringabel straightened up in time to see it spew out brownish gray water. His eyes met Edea's.

"I'm going to go get some snow," she suggested. "Then we can melt and boil it!"

"I think that's a good idea," he replied, kneeling back down to finish cleaning up. No doubt the pipes had been unused in months, perhaps even years. Who knew what was in them? A moment later, he felt Edea tugging at his jacket and glanced up at her in surprise. "What are you doing? If you wanted me to strip, you need only ask."

"As if! I need another layer of clothes. I wish we had sugar and maple syrup, though…"

"Sugar and maple syrup?"

"Yeah, for ice cream and maple taffy! I can't believe you haven't tried that before. Now give me your clothes."

He declined to say more as she pulled his jacket off him and wrapped it around herself for extra warmth before she stepped outside, promising to stay within just a few feet of the entrance. In the meantime, he took quick stock of the other crates that had been shoved aside. It was more of the same, just the essentials to ensure the men out here didn't starve. Now, it would be finally put to use to feed the two visitors. Ringabel hoped that it was still edible, at least.

When Edea returned with a pot full of freshly fallen snow, he was starting a fire in the small cooking stove, and took the pot from her to set it over the flames.

"Thanks, Ringabel!"

"No need to mention it," he said cheerfully, then reached his hand out for his jacket. "Give me that, I'm going to go fetch some snow myself."

"Oh fine," she groused, relinquishing it to him. "It is really warm, you know. But be careful, it's starting to come down really hard. We almost got caught in that!"

"That" was a blizzard that bit his face immediately once he'd stepped out of the coziness of their cabin. He sucked in a sharp breath and ducked his face down, stepping over to the snow that was building up alongside the cabin walls, scooping it up into a large bowl he'd brought with him. Snowflakes clung to his eyelashes and nearly obscured his vision as he retraced his steps, finding that his footsteps were already being filled in.

This was not good. This was a bad blizzard, even for Eternia.

The bowl was set aside for now, along with black beans that he poured in so that they could soak in the water once it eventually melted. There were hooks on the side of the door, and Ringabel hung their wet, cold outer clothing on them. Now clad in clothing that was more appropriate to Florem's tropical climate, he decided it would be an opportune time to join Edea as she huddled under a blanket next to the fireplace.

The old couch she was on creaked alarmingly under his added weight, and Edea barely glanced at him before she offered the edge of the blanket to him.

"Keep your hands to yourself," she warned him, but cuddled against him all the same, pressing her side to his.

"I am a gentleman," he reminded her. "I would never even think of such a thing."

"Hmm…" Edea hummed as she tugged her side of the blanket around herself. Ringabel tucked his side of the blanket behind her back, and then carefully laid his cheek against the top of Edea's head. Her bow made that a little difficult, but he nudged it aside. "That's fine, I suppose," she said, looking up at him. "I still have my sword in here. I'll cut your hands off if they wander too close to anything."

"I won't!" he yelped, and tucked his hands down against his own lap.

The room was warmer than outside, but there was still room for improvement. Ringabel closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the blizzard outside, and the fire crackling a few feet away, and the water beginning to boil around their potatoes. And Edea's breathing… there wasn't a sound more sweeter than that, especially the little sighs of contentment she made whenever she stretched out. Their little blanket cave was toasty and he couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave it. His eyelids seemed to grow heavier and heavier with each passing second… maybe he would close his eyes and really get comfortable, just for a few moments.

He awoke some time later, curled up on his side under the blanket. It was still warm, but it lacked the warmth of his friend's body heat, and he looked up with bleary eyes in confusion as Edea called his name again.

"Wake up, Ringabel. It's time for dinner."

"… did you finish cooking all by yourself?" he asked her, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he untangled himself from the blanket and rolled on to the dusty floor with a low noise. Whatever she'd cooked, it smelled delicious, and his stomach growled. He'd let her eat most of their packed food earlier with the assumption that he'd have a big dinner later.

"Of course I did! I know how to cook, after all." She puffed out her cheeks even as she ladled steaming soup into bowls for them both.

He dragged himself over to the table, taking the chair that seemed least rickety. "I know you know, but… it's just…"

Edea slid the bowl over in front of him, and handed him a spoon. "It's just nothing!" Her face was red, likely with the heat of the kitchen. "Someone has to cook dinner if you're just going to laze about all day. I found the meat and spices and added that, so it's not terrible. I ran out, though. Of spices."

He'd already taken some of the stew onto his spoon but now he paused, staring at the seemingly innocent liquid. It looked so inviting.

"You ran out?"

"Yeah! There just wasn't enough."

He knew there'd been only a small amount, but he hadn't thought it that minute - it was supposed to be enough to last a group of grown men for a month! Edea plopped down next to him and looked at him expectantly as she picked up her own spoon. "Go on, Ringabel," she said with a smile. "Don't you want to taste my home-made cooking?"

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed, then shoved the spoon into his mouth before he could think about what he was doing. Immediately he cringed; not because it tasted terrible, but because it was still very hot, and now his tongue was scalded. Edea was laughing, and to deny her the satisfaction of seeing him spit out his food, he carefully swallowed it instead.

At the very least, it left a trail of heat all the way from his mouth to his stomach, and he sighed. That was one way to warm up. Even if the cabin wasn't as cool as it was earlier, there was still a chill, especially now that the cooking fire was low. It had been a very long time since the cabin had been weather protected against drafts.

"It's fine," he told her. It wasn't a lie; he thought perhaps his tastebuds had been burnt before they could actually get a taste of the food. Either way, it was decent and he could at least chew the meat and potatoes. It would be dinner.

Edea seemed pleased, beaming at him before she dug into her large bowl. "Good! I'm so hungry! This took forever to make."

"Did it?" Ringabel went back to eating, at a much slower pace than she, watching her eat as much as he was taking care of his scalded tongue. When he took a moment to glance around, he could see that the windows were covered by thick curtains, and there was no light coming through, not even the stars and moon. He could still hear the blizzard outside - how long had it been raging?

"Yeah, like a full hour." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm slaving over a hot stove and you're sleeping like a baby! You like the couch so much, you can sleep on it tonight. As if I'm going to let you share the bed with me."

"Ah, but then who would keep you warm at night?" he asked, stirring around a piece of soggy potato. It had been overcooked.

"Oh, don't worry. I still have my sword, after all."

His sense of taste began to come back as he was finishing up his bowl, surprising him as he tasted a clump of pepper that hadn't dissolved entirely. Edea, meanwhile, went back for seconds. He took the opportunity while her back was turned to hold his nose and gulp down the rest of what was left; while it was mostly just water, it would be enough to fill his stomach for the night.

"We can keep the leftovers in the icebox," he told her as he went to clean up; it was just natural, after all, for him to clean after she cooked. And though the icebox was empty of any ice, Eternia's climate meant that there were shutters in the back that could be opened to the outside. That would be enough to keep things cool. There. Breakfast and possibly lunch as well. He also scrubbed down the surfaces and put the food scraps aside, popping some pieces of meat into his mouth to get the fuzzy feeling off his tongue.

Edea finished up her seconds as he came back to the table, wishing that they'd thought to get snow for drinks. Coffee, tea, hot cocoa, anything. He needed to get the taste of her food out his mouth. When Edea turned her back to him, he snuck a sip out of the bowl where the beans had been soaking.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Edea scraped her spoon against the edges of the bowl.

"I guess… we could go to bed," she suggested. "There's not a lot to do here. I mean… what do they do in small towns anyway? There's no stores to go shopping at, no restaurants to go to for dinner. And in a blizzard on top of that?" And there was no Tiz around to ask.

"Read books?" he replied, shrugging. "I'm sure the women would be sitting by candlelight and working on their sewing, and they would be reading Crystalist scripture. We were ill-prepared for an overnight stay; the only book we have on us is my journal."

"I've already read that enough."

"Rude."

Edea giggled and left her bowl on the table as she wandered across the space over to the bed, falling back onto it with a laugh. Dust kicked up at her movements, which she ignored. "Well… we could tell each other bedtime stories."

"Would you like that? I'll tuck you in and tell you stories about the strongest knight in all Eternia."

"Mmm, yeah," Edea hummed, rolling over onto her stomach to face him as he approached. "Yeah, that'll be nice." Then she hesitated for a moment before continuing. "You know I was only kidding about making you sleep on the couch, right? It's too cold for that."

He didn't know, and lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "I can stay warm enough witho-"

"I can't," Edea insisted, and he could see her face growing red, even in the dim light of the oil lamps. "I won't be warm without someone next to me, or at least a nice big fire, and this place is too small for that. The bed is made for two people. You'll fit just fine."

"Oh…" Ringabel wasn't quite sure what to say to that. So he decided not to say anything, instead moving across the room to bank the fire. "Let's go to bed, then." After the fire came blowing out almost all of the oil lamps, save one that he carried over to the bed with him.

He saw that Edea had a thick comforter already covering the mattress, and now she laid down three more at the foot of the bed, folding them back so that she and Ringabel could get nice and comfortable before pulling them all over them. The mattress was quite large, almost enough for three adults and she really didn't mind sharing a bed with him, not when Eternia's weather was their common enemy. No one was stupid enough to sleep alone in the middle of a blizzard when they had other options. She wasn't stubborn enough to attempt such a feat. She wasn't cruel enough to leave him on the couch by himself, even if he would be closer to the fire.

They had both kept their shoes on until the very last, and so when Edea tucked her feet under the comforter, she was disappointed to learn that her feet weren't cold enough to touch against his legs to disturb him. She did it anyway, smiling a bit when he whined and moved away from her.

"Stay on your side of the bed," he threatened.

"That's my line," she retorted back, snuggling into the blankets as he pulled them up around them. Though the bed lacked any sort of pillow, she'd folded up an extra blanket for head-cushioning purposes. Then, she placed her sheathed sword between them as a boundary. He pressed a finger to it, and she slapped his hand, causing him to hiss in mock-pain.

"Alright," she said, once they'd got situated. There was plenty of space between them, enough that she could curl her legs up and not touch his, even though her knees went under the sword's edge. "Tell me a bedtime story, Ringabel."

The oil in the lamp he'd set on a small table on his side of the bed would burn out soon, and it was dim enough that he could only  _just_  make out her face, mostly through the light reflecting in her eyes. "Very well, dear. How about… the story of the Knight who saved Eternia through her heroic and wise actions?"

"I like the sound of this story." Edea wiggled closer and he nearly forgot what he was about to say as he met her eyes. This was different. This was new. While they had shared a bed before, that had been in different circumstances; with the others. They had never been alone together like this, and so close. Tiz always slept between the girls and Ringabel.

Ringabel swallowed, then found himself stammering. "Well, er… a very long, long time ago, there lived a young Lady Knight in Eternia…" His cheeks were warm enough that he wouldn't need her body heat. "She was the youngest Knight, but was also the strongest, and the kindest, and the most beautiful."

"Go on."

It was getting easier to talk, especially when she smiled at him. "She spent her days protecting Eternia. There were many threats, all of which she thwarted. Such as… an evil empire that sought to use the Earth Crystal for their own needs, who would send armies across the land, destroying villages. There was a Dragon that wanted Eternia's treasure for its own, and so it disguised itself as a human to cause chaos from within. There was a tax collector from another country who would kidnap citizens for ransom. She beat them all, and with one hand tied behind her back."

"Boring."

"There were also threats from within," he countered, glowering at her. "The Lady Knight was just and fair, but there were other Knights who wanted power. And power they sought, when they gathered in a meeting one day."

He continued on with the story, detailing how the other Knights - they were not Dark Knights, just evil ones - hatched a plan to raise taxes and burn orphanages and kick kittens, and lure the Lady Knight out of Eternia so they could conquer the city. And how the Lady Knight went to another country and made it better, before returning to Eternia with enough time to stop the plot and kick some butts.

When the story concluded, Edea yawned and stretched, smile still on her face. "And then she lived happily ever after?"

"Of course. She and Eternia's many subjects, all of whom admired her for her beauty and strength and swordsmanship." Ringabel replied, watching her movements. His eyes had long adjusted to the darkness of the cabin.

"She ruled with a fair but firm hand across the realm, and was loved by not only Eternia's people, but also those across the world!" Edea elaborated, and she reached across the space to press her finger against his nose. He wrinkled it.

"Yes, yes. Though, none loved her more than the Dark Knight of Eternia, who hoped to rule beside her one day."

Edea fell silent, her finger tapping against his nose.

"Is that what you're planning to do? Return to Eternia with me?"

Ringabel went silent as well, breathing out warm air against her hand, frowning as her finger slipped down to press against his mouth. If she'd wanted him to answer him, then she'd have to move that. Truthfully, he hadn't known what he was saying when he spoke. He'd love nothing more than to remain at Edea's side for the rest of their lives, but there was still the matter of the Dark Knight from Edea's world… and what to do with his own world, which he'd left in shatters.

When he pursed his lips against her finger, she withdrew her hand.

"You don't have to -" she started, but he interrupted her, embolden by the sound of her voice. Edea's voice, her very presence, could inspire him to do many things. To be brave.

"Once all is said and done, and my business is finished, I would be delighted to return to Eternia with you," he forced out. When Edea looked at him, her eyes widening, he found himself losing some of his nerve. "I-if that's alright with you, I mean. I want to spend time with… I mean, your home is my home, and… I don't really have much of a world to return to. I can think of nothing more pleasant th-

"It's okay," Edea cut him off, and he watched her snuggle further down into the blankets. "You can stay with us. The basement will work, right?"

He huffed, his breath coming out in a cloud.

Edea laughed and the sheath of the sword made a noise as both it and she inched a little closer to him under the covers. "The fire must be going down. It's getting colder."

Ringabel risked peeking out from over the covers to where he could just see the hint of coals from the fireplace. It would last until morning, but the heat output would be low.

"I've banked it," he explained. "I don't want to have to go through the trouble of relighting it in the morning when it's cold and we're half-asleep."

"Ringabel, we both know Fire magic. Lighting things on fire is a breeze."

"Be that as it may, it'll be warm enough in here. Especially  _here"_. He raised an eyebrow at her, grinning widely.

It was Edea's turn to huff, and he watched her roll over onto her stomach, wrapping her arms around the blanket underneath her. "Don't make this any more weird than it already is," she said, puffing her cheeks out.

"Forgive me," he offered, and he too rolled over onto his stomach, kicking his feet slightly against the covers above them. They stayed like that for some time, Ringabel resting his head on his arms and attempting to at least nap.

It was much too early for him to really sleep. He was a night owl, after all, and he'd had a nap just a while ago. As Alternis, he had perfected the art of sleeping on demand, because he was often times up late and waking early, with perhaps a couple of hours of free time in the middle of his day in which to crash. That was one of his skills he had apparently forgotten, and now he struggled to fall asleep, too aware of everything going on.

Edea on the other hand, was a happy hummingbird, full of energy no matter the time of day, and someone he'd rarely seen nap. He closed his eyes and listened to her as she attempted to get comfortable, rolling over onto her back, then again onto her stomach, and then to her side, before she sat up in bed.

He opened one eye at this, rolling slightly to the side so that he could watch her. "What are you doing?"

The oil in the lamp was out, but his eyes had long adjusted the scant light coming in through the loft window, and he could see her. "It's too warm," Edea complained, and he watched wordlessly as she pushed back one of the comforters, helpfully kicking it off his feet so that it piled at the foot of the big bed.

"Do you need another bedtime story?" he offered.

"No," Edea replied. "But thank you, for the offer. It's just…"

They lay in silence for a few moments, as Ringabel waited patiently for her to finish her sentence.

"This cabin… had the Orthodoxy not exiled my father, I would have grown up in here perhaps. Had the Great Plague not happened, I would have been able to visit my grandparents here. This country life would have been mine, and I would have never known otherwise. I would have been like Tiz."

"That's a thought."

"But, it all happened, didn't it? The Great Plague destroyed this town, and my father left the country to gather support for his coup. The cabin was left empty, and years later, I'm trying to fall asleep beside the weirdest person that I know, who can't keep his mouth shut when I'm monologuing."

"I've no idea who you're talking about," Ringabel said, but he reached across the space between them, only to hesitate and place his hand down just on his side of the sword. "It happened, and this cabin was left behind as a memento of those days that your family can't return to. However, perhaps we can look at today as the start of a new era? Once we return home, and our journey is over, you can look into remodeling these cabins. The Lee family may not return here, but another family could make it cozy and homelike."

"Yeah," Edea breathed, and he could see her looking at his hand. "We can spruce it up a little. Maybe a add couple of rooms? Though I think Gravemark could use some nice shopping centers to really boost its appeal." She settled back onto the bed, fluffing up the folded blanket before laying her head on it. "Thanks Ringabel. For listening, I guess."

"You're welcome," he replied graciously, and the two of them lay in silence for a while longer. The wind outside was continuing to howl, rattling across the wood of the cabin and the old shingles above them. He found himself listening to the storm, trying to measure where the snow was hitting and how much could be piling against the walls just based on the sounds it made.

Suddenly, the crossguard of a sword pushed against his chest, followed quickly by a head of hair.

"Edea?" He opened his eyes wide as the girl continued to snuggle against him, getting comfortable. Her legs tangled in his own.

"Now it's too cold," she complained. "Don't worry, my sword is still here to keep things proper."

"Yes, your sword," Ringabel said quietly, nudging it off his chest and against his shoulder, where the crossguard could fit without bruising him by morning. He wasn't sure what to do with his hands now, but slowly let his arm down until one settled behind her waist. The other was trapped as Edea decided his shoulder made a better pillow than an old, musty blanket.

"It's just for tonight," she reminded him when he let out a soft noise. "Be good, Ringabel."

"I am a good boy," he said to her in a whisper. So close, it didn't seem right to speak at a normal volume.

Edea's only response was a laugh that set his heart pounding. It was so quiet in the cabin that he wondered if she could hear it, but if she could, she made no indication of the sort, yawning against his neck before she went quiet and still.

His mind was racing along with his heart, and sleep did not come easily. Even when Edea's breathing became slow and even, and her grip on her sword slackened, he lay there, listening to the blizzard that rattled the windows every now and then. It seemed like hours when he finally found himself drifting off, storm still raging outside. Hopefully it would be over before they woke. After all, how much longer could a blizzard possibly go on?

Much longer than he could ever have expected, it turned out.


	2. Day 2

Ringabel was one who slept in as much as he was allowed, and so it was Edea who woke first, rousing shortly after dawn. She yawned and snuggled closer into the teddy bear that she was cuddling, burying her face into the fabric of its… Shirt? His shirt?

Oh right, she was cuddling with Ringabel, wasn't she? Judging from the lack of tension in his form as she pressed her cheek into his shoulder, he was still asleep. Edea leaned back just slightly so that she could check - yep, his eyes were closed and he had drooled somewhat, causing some of his hair to stick to his face.

Still, he looked peaceful, and he wasn't so bad when he was being quiet, she decided, and closed her eyes to get a little more sleep herself. Beyond his breathing, it was mostly quiet in the cabin, save for the sound of the wind outside.

The wind outside?

Edea peeked her head out of the covers to look around. The high ceiling allowed for several windows near the top of the walls, where she could see the sun shining through. But there was something a bit muted about the sunshine. Something that was very familiar to an Eternian.

"It's still snowing," she groaned.

Ringabel snored.

Now she was faced with a true dilemma. She could face the harsh, cold cabin air to check their surroundings, or she could continue to stay warm and cozy in the blanket cave, even though Ringabel needed to take a shower. Then, once he woke up, she could make him get out of bed first…

"Come on, Edea. You are a Sky Knight and daughter of the Templar. You've grown up in this weather. Just… get out of bed."

It was very hard to convince herself to move.

In the end, survival won out. Edea dove back into the covers with Ringabel, pulling the blanket tightly over her shoulders. Ringabel slept on, and she found herself watching him for a few moments, wishing she could be sleeping too. This close, she could see that his eyelashes, nearly as white as his hair, were long enough to settle on his cheeks, and fluttered when she reached a finger up to tap his bottom lip that was hanging open. She could wake him now, she was sure, but…

Ringabel's tongue flicked out to press against her finger, as though it were a piece of food that had dropped. Edea withdrew her hand with a squeak, wiping her finger down on his shirt. The noise only caused the man to frown in his sleep, a low sound escaping him. Her name. "Edea…"

She wasn't ready to end this yet, she realized, when she looked over at him.

"Just a few more hours," she told herself quietly, cuddling back into his arms. It was much warmer this way. He clutched her tightly, stretching a bit as they both settled back on the bed. "Just a few more hours, then I'm kicking him out." He looked so peaceful after all, and she knew he'd had difficulty with sleeping in the past. She'd let him rest. Yeah.

She drifted back to sleep for a few more hours.

In those few hours it was Ringabel who woke next, to a face full of blonde hair and a crossguard poking into his collarbone.

Spitting out strands of Edea's hair that had ended up in his mouth, he disentangled himself from the girl so that he could sit up, missing the way her eyes opened easily to look at him. Pushing sticky strands of his own hair out of his face - he really needed to wash some of the product out - he glanced around with bleary eyes.

"Go check outside," Edea murmured at him.

"… fine," he said. Remembering that they had coffee beans and that he'd need to brew them, Ringabel rubbed at his face as he gingerly removed himself from the bed. The cold never bothered him, anyway. He'd faced worse as an orphan, and as a Dark Knight.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked her, as he tugged his boots back on and draped last night discarded blanket over his shoulders. Edea was getting comfortable back in the bed, putting her sword aside so that she could pull all of the covers over her.

"Just a little while. You look so much like a baby when you sleep, it's practically criminal to wake you. Since I've been waiting for you to wake all this time, you can go look outside."

"I'm going," he replied, trying not to let his rougher, grumpier edges come through. He had never been a morning person, but around his friends, he could attempt not to be as surly. Eyes half closed, he trudged across the cabin to the front door.

A few moments later, he called back to her, sounding more alert. "Edea? Get out of bed and come here."

In her nest, Edea wondered if she could pretend that she hadn't heard, but there was something in the tone of his voice that told her that she just needed to suck it up and listen to him for once. "I'm coming!" she replied, bracing herself as she flung the covers aside and practically leaped off the bed, heading toward him.

She'd only made it halfway when she stopped in her tracks, looking past him at the doorway.

Or at least, at the snow in the doorway. It had piled up over her head, and almost to the top of Ringabel's, blocking out most of the sun. "That's just pile up, right?" she laughed, approaching him. He'd grabbed a wooden spoon from the kitchen and was just now brandishing it at the top of the block of snow. They both watched as the pile up fell… from the top few inches of snow, revealing a blindingly white plane as far as the eye could see. Or at least as far as his eye could see. The build-up was higher than she was tall.

"No," he said, as though it weren't obvious. "It's rather deep."

"Argh! Let me try the back door. Give me that." Edea snatched the spoon from him and twirled to head across the cabin toward the back door. She stomped as she went, growling under the breath.

When she wrenched the back door open, she had to leap back as part of the wall of snow collapsed at her feet. It seemed even  _higher_  here and not just because she was shorter than Ringabel.

Mrgrgr!

"Did you… just growl at the snow?" Ringabel asked as he came forth with a broom, trading it out for his spoon. She huffed as she swept the snow as best she could.

"We're snowed in. I'm snowed in. With  _you_."

"You're welcome."

"That's not funny!" she bit at him, and the grin that had been on his face died. "Be serious, Ringabel. This isn't like being snowed in at Central Command. Agnes and Tiz aren't with us, and we don't have many supplies. We'll starve!" And she privately added that she didn't want to spend much time alone with him.

She could see the serious side of him come out, the side that was usually buried under mountains of hair products. "Edea, dear, everything be fine," he assured her, and he very gently took the broom out of her hands before she could break it, holding onto her wrists. "Tiz and Agnes know we're here, and the old men do as well. You and I are both healthy enough to survive on sparse rations, and I know this isn't your first time being out in a blizzard with little supplies. We'll be fine, please trust me. We have shelter, and warmth, and each other. I won't let you come to harm."

Edea took a deep breath and watched their hands for a few moments before she looked up at him and nodded. Ringabel could be weird, but he was reliable when he needed to be. She could depend on him in serious situations, she knew. If he thought they'd be fine, then they would be fine.

Then he ruined everything. "We're more liable to die of boredom than anything else."

She stamped on his booted foot and went to heat up breakfast, grabbing the spoon and smacking him as she went. He laughed.

Ringabel made to follow her, but instead went to the fire, throwing more logs onto it and poking the coals until they blazed with life. If they were going to spend the day in the cabin, he wanted it to be warm.

Edea had started a fire in the kitchen and was now reheating their leftovers, poking the pot viciously. After a few moments of stirring the slush around, she found herself calming down. It was just a day, wasn't it? The food wouldn't be good, but they  _would_  have food, and she could relax, have a little fun, peace, and quiet. There was enough room in the cabin that she could work on some of her forms. Yeah, that would be nice. She could make Ringabel stay in the loft and out of trouble… oh, who was she kidding? That man couldn't stay out of trouble if his life depended on it.

"Breakfast smells great," Ringabel said. He'd come over to check on the soaking beans and stirred them with his fingers, shivering at the cold water.

"Gross. Did you wash your hands?"

"Er, of course."

There was a pause, then Ringabel turned and headed into the small bathroom that was attached to the house. "I should wash my hair," she heard him comment loudly in her direction.

"Washing your hair now of all times?" He was so vain, honestly!

"Good hygiene is important," he called back. "Besides! If we're to stay together tonight as well, you'll want me to look my best!" She rolled her eyes as he closed the door.

Inside the bathroom, Ringabel found it was… a bit sad, actually. There was a large window, the sunlight mostly blocked by the snow. A small crystal hung near the window, it's dim, weak light barely reaching the shadows of the small room. Ringabel cringed as he took it all in. The toilet seemed to be the only type of indoor plumbing, a luxury that he supposed had been necessary, given the extreme cold of Eternia. To his dismay, a basin of dusty water stood on a large table, along with a bit of soap. He'd have to use that to wash, and then get more snow to melt. Nearby, a tub sat on the floor, waiting to be filled with heated water for a bath. It was tempting.

When he emerged from the bathroom sometime later, his hair was at least semi-clean and still wet, though he scrubbed at it with a towel that he'd found and had dusted out. At least he felt more awake, even if he still really wanted some coffee now.

"Stay in front of the fire," Edea told him. "The last thing we need is you getting sick with a cold." She was already seated at the table, because of course.

"Yes ma'am," he replied. The smell of breakfast made his stomach growl, but he obediently sat in front of the fire and waited for his hair to get more dry, blowing sadly at the limp locks that partially obscured his vision. Behind him, he could hear Edea eating. How cruel!

"I left some for you," she said when she heard him whine. "You're making dinner tonight."

"Very well," he agreed. "Edea, will you be a dear and make some coffee? I'm … " He was tired and getting warm and cozy. It was very tempting to fall asleep in front of the fire. But he knew that would be folly.

"Must I do everything?" the girl replied, but he heard her get up from the table anyway. Over to the kitchen, then to the door to get some snow and back again… Ringabel closed his eyes and listened to her attempt to make coffee. It was nice. Somewhat domestic. His mind wandered, imagining living with Edea in a nice home in the countryside. No, they'd likely live in Central Command, and they could have dinner and coffee delivered to them anytime they wished for it. Still, sometimes they'd go out to battle, and would need to make dinner for themselves then in their tent. He smiled at the fantasy, imagining Edea in an apron as she cooked a loving meal for him. Ahh… that would be the life. One tired of constant fighting, after all.

He was in the middle of watching fantasy Edea eat dessert when the real one startled him. "Here," she said. As the daydreaming died away, he opened his eyes with some difficulty. Apparently, his day dream had been about to turn to real dreaming.

"Ah, my deepest thanks." He replied, hoping she couldn't tell he was drowsing. Gratefully accepting the cup, Ringabel held it tightly in his hands to warm them up and took a deep breath, inhaling the wonderful scent of coffee beans. This was the life. The liquid warmed him, and the caffeine was sorely needed. He wouldn't just survive, he would  _live_  now.

Edea settled next to him, and he glanced over to her. She had her bowl of breakfast in her lap, and was eating away. She noticed him looking. "What? It's warm over here, okay?"

"I said nothing," he replied, looking down at his cup of coffee. He didn't need to eat much, and had, even recently, gone mornings with only coffee to fill his stomach. Perhaps he should do the same now, to ensure they had enough to eat for the days they were snowed in. Rationing.

She must have read his mind. "Don't forget to eat," she grumped. "I'm not going to let you starve yourself or some other stupid noble thing."

"Of course not," Ringabel said airily. "I would never think such a - "

"Yes you would. We both know it. You're so weird, Ringabel. I'd be more surprised if you weren't thinking of some way to sacrifice yourself for me."

"I - It's not just for you," he tried to defend himself, but now she was looking at him and he could feel his cheeks and ears grow hot. "It truly isn't. In this situation, we want to reserve our resources. I'll eat later."

Edea narrowed her eyes at him, looking him over. He could feel himself break out into a sweat. "Go get something to eat, Ringabel."

He wasn't going to win this battle. Ringabel knew when to fold. "Very well," he murmured, and climbed to his feet. It was just as well; his hair now felt much drier, and the coffee and fire both had warmed him nicely. Crossing over to the small kitchen, he ladled some leftover stew into a bowl. He could feel the woman's eyes on him as he tasted it, and tried not to cringe. The spices were more potent than they had been last night! The potatoes had turned to mush, and the meat was stringy. He'd survive on this, but he'd hate every moment of it.

"Good Ringabel," Edea said, like one might compliment a puppy, as she helped herself to another serving. There wasn't very much left - enough perhaps for a light lunch, and then they'd need to make something new for dinner. "I can't have you dying on me. You're my emergency meat supply, after all."

That again? Ringabel grinned at her, ignoring the way his mouth felt fuzzy and his lips tingled. "Heaven forbid."

The water from the sink was still brownish, but together they decided that it probably wouldn't kill them to wash the dishes in. Ringabel went to work, scrubbing the tin bowls with old, musty soap. Once they returned home, whichever home that was, they would have to clean up Gravemark, it seemed, he thought to himself. That made his thoughts wander further. Home? Edea's world was not the world that he was born in, but the idea of returning to that world, knowing that his family and friends were all dead, made him feel sick. And yet, as the Dark Knight, and one of the few surviving members of the Council of Six, it was his duty to ensure Eternia would be alright. Perhaps he could return for just a short time… but then, how would he return to the world of his friends? He looked up at Edea. She was stretched out in front of the fire now, her feet kicking idly. It made him smile.

"Ah, if only there was a fur rug," he commented. The two of them, sprawled out together over the rug in front of the fire, cuddling and rolling together, wrapped up in one another so that their body heat was more effective at warming them than the fire… Edea rolled over to look at him, propping herself up on her elbows and glaring.

"What are you talking about? Don't be weird."

Ringabel was not about to explain what his imagination had come up with, and instead frowned. "Nothing, dear. Why don't we move the sofa closer to the fire?"

Moving the sofa closer accomplished one of two things. It cleared up more room in the center of the cabin, and made it so that they could lounge on the sofa and still stay toasty warm. Together, they inched it as close as they thought was safe. Once that was done, Edea stretched out on it. He crammed himself onto the very end, right at her feet.

That done, the two of them relaxed for some time, the light moving across the room with the sun. Quiet was peaceful, after all, and she moved her feet into his lap so that he could give her a foot massage.

"Ringabel, go up to the loft and don't come down until I say so, okay?" Once both feet were properly massaged, she broke the silence.

"Why would I do that?" he asked her, looking up from where he had been playing with her toes. His hair got in the way, and he pushed it out of his eyes. When she looked up at him, she paused.

"You look really weird like that," she said, nudging him with a foot.

He felt himself flushing. Edea had seen him with his hair unstyled before, but he tried to limit the amount of times that happened. "Excuse me, I didn't expect to be staying overnight, and didn't pack any hair gel."

"We wouldn't have been able to carry the amount it takes to style your hair," she pointed out, at the sight of his red face, she seemed to take pity.

"I'm going to practice some forms. Stay out of the way, okay? I could hit you."

With no form of entertainment on them, no books, no sewing, no extra wood to whittle (not that Ringabel knew how to whittle, but he could learn), and no one to talk to but one another, the idea of spending a day locked in a cabin together… was a dream come true! And yet, Ringabel was highly tempted to throw himself back in bed and attempt to sleep the day away. He doubted Edea would let him get away with that for long, though. She'd never liked to lay around doing nothing, after all, and her current energy was proof of that. As Edea tested the room to make sure she had enough space for her forms, Ringabel rearranged the furniture somewhat - pushing the table closer to the wall, moving aside the screen, and took the opportunity to look around some more in the drawers of the desks and in the giant trunk he'd noticed. With better lighting, there was more to see, and after some time Edea joined him.

If she had been hoping to find family heirlooms, she was disappointed. What remained in the drawers was a book of Crystalist prayers that threatened to fall apart, and other miscellaneous items that he couldn't figure out the use for. The trunk held scraps of fabric and old blankets, including one that looked suspiciously small to be used as anything but the blanket of a cradle, which Edea handled oddly gently. After an hour of this, Edea seemed to get bored and exiled him to the loft, poking at his behind and legs with the sheath as he clambered up the ladder.

Down below, the girl began to practice her sword forms.

Ringabel sat on the top of the loft and watched; Edea was right in that she needed space if he didn't want any extra bruises. The loft was comfortable enough; it did hold extra blankets, and he wondered if he could make a sort of nest in which to sleep, but watching Edea's movements were more …. Interesting.

She was wearing only her leggings and an undershirt, swinging her sword down over and over. Ringabel recognized the merit in doing so; practice made perfect, and she was a student of the Swordmaster. Still, even though she didn't seem to be working hard, a sheen of sweat quickly built up on her arms and shoulders and her face was red. Her arms were strong, yet thin. They looked almost delicate, except when she flexed her arms, which showed off her muscles quite nicely.

"You can stop staring anytime," she grumbled up at him. Her face was flushed with the movements.

"Ah, forgive me." He rolled over onto his back to look up at the faded wood of the ceiling. "It was just such an interesting sight."

"I'm going to throw you out the window," she threatened.

"You would never!"

The loft window was far too small for him to fit through… probably.

Still, she had a point. While they had some time to themselves, why couldn't he work on his own forms? Or work out. Heaven knows he needed it. Ringabel carefully climbed down the ladder of the loft until he could turn, fit his knees on one of the rungs, and hang there.

"What are you doing?" Edea asked.

The blood was rushing to his head. "Exercising," he managed to say as he did a sit-up. Ow ow ow that burned, but it was a good type of burn he hadn't felt in quite a while. Ringabel let out a noise and hung there for a moment, looking at Edea upside down. "You don't mind, do you dear? I'm a bit out of shape."

He'd used to do these types of things for fun. For fun! No wonder he'd been good as a Dark Knight if he tortured himself regularly like this.

"Of course I don't," the girl replied, and she went back to her forms, turning her back to him.

Right then. Ringabel tried not to groan as he attempted another hanging sit up, his hands behind his head. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this position, but he would simply come to that later.

Just a few feet away, Edea continued to practice her forms. Swordfighting took discipline, lots of work, and repetitive movement! … the forms had been one of her least liked things to do while she'd been learning, but now seemed like an opportune time to work on them, so she could at least say that she had been.

Not that… she expected anyone would be asking her any time soon.

Again and again her sword came down, until she felt that perhaps she was ready to move onto something new, if only she weren't distracted by the man that was grunting behind her back as he worked out. Edea sneaked a look at him.

She had no idea how he'd even got into that mess, but his face was red and covered with sweat. His undershirt, which he'd slept in, had become a victim to the force of gravity and fallen down to his neck, revealing a sweaty swath of pasty white skin across his stomach and chest. She'd seen it before, considering how some of the asterisk costumes were open in the front, but not like… this. Edea watched as he did another sit-up, his stomach flexing, glistening in the light. He held the position for a few seconds, holding his breath, then lowered himself back down, breathing heavily. Sweat glistened and trailed down his chest.

When he opened his eyes, using his undershirt to mop his face, he caught sight of her staring.

"Do you like what you see?" he asked, grinning at her. The effect was lost by the shiny redness of his face.

"Does that really work?" She decided to ignore his question, as usual.

"Yes," he replied, lifting himself up a bit to look at his knees. "This was one of my common exercises when I was recovering from the white magic chamber. It's intense, I must say that." He had pushed himself then, and probably performed other exercises that weren't exactly healthy. He paused to think on that, letting himself dangle from the ladder, his hands falling nearly to the floor.

"I want to try," Edea decided, coming over to him. "Get off the ladder, Ringabel."

"… I don't know how."

There was silence.

"What do you mean you don't know how?"

Ringabel wiggled a bit, attempting to sit up. He'd apparently reached his limit as far as exercise went though, and after a bit of flailing, only just managed to grab one of the ladder rungs with his hands. Then, he attempted to get his legs out from where they were hooked, but found that he couldn't, no matter how much he twisted and shifted. After a few moments, he seemed to give up, falling back onto the ladder again.

"You're stuck," Edea said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm resting," he protested.

"You're totally stuck!" She laughed now, setting down the sword on the table so that she could have her hands free. "What's wrong, Ringabel? Need a hand?" She waited for him to fold, watching him with her hands on his hips as he hung limply.

"No, I…"

There was more silence. More waiting.

"Please," Ringabel finally gave in, and she watched him struggle to sit up again. "If you wouldn't mind, Edea…"

"Okay, okay." She should take pity on him, or else he was liable to whine until her eardrums burst. Edea approached Ringabel, hesitating for just a moment before she looped her arms under his, helping him to sit up and supporting his weight as he slipped one leg, than the other, out from between the rungs of the ladder. It was very tempting to drop him midway.

Once both of the man's feet were squarely on the ground, he turned to face her triumphantly, grinning, albeit a bit sheepishly.

"There! Thank you, my dear."

"My turn," she decided. Despite Ringabel's protests, she managed to coerce him into helping her hang off the rungs of the ladder just as he had, the man's arms supporting her weight until she was good and ready. Then - "Alright, Ringabel. Step back."

Anything that he could do, she could do just as well! But… ow. Edea hung there for a moment, silently cursing him. Then not so silently cursing him. "Why did you think this was a good idea?" she asked. Her head was beginning to feel light, and she could feel the blood rushing to it as she attempted a sit up.

Ringabel was hovering, attempting to spot her, and his hand came and rested underneath her lower back to give her some support. "I was a Dark Knight. It seemed like a good idea at the time. At the  _time_." He declined to remind himself that he'd just done this in front of her moments ago.

The only response she could give him was a grunt as she managed to connect her chest to her knees - sort of - and fell back against his hand. If it was there, then she might as well take advantage of it, right? Ringabel kept her steady, and she could feel his other hand at her back now.

"I can keep going," she said after a taking a few moments to catch her breath. She opened her eyes to look at him, and even upside down she could see the frown on his face.

"I believe you," he said in a way that clearly said that he didn't believe her.

"Mrgrgr," she muttered, wriggling as she attempted another sit up. Her stomach wasn't made for such abuse! Her arms were all that was required to be strong! Who cared about things like core muscles? Still, she wasn't about to give up until she had attempted as many sit ups as he had…. How many had he done again?

Ringabel was quiet as she continued to huff and struggle, and after more than a few painful sit-ups, she leaned back against his hand, looking up at him. She'd counted at least twenty, and Ringabel had only done about nineteen from her count. "What?" she asked, when he said nothing to her at first. He was staring at her, like he sometimes did in moments when he didn't think she'd notice.

"Nothing," he said quickly. Too quickly. Edea glared at him suspiciously, then gasped and nearly fell when she realized - she could feel her shirt against her neck… and not her stomach like it should have been.

"You pervert!" she yelled at him. It wasn't as effective as usual, considering that she was upside down and her face was red and sweaty, but she yelled all the same, and flailed at him. Her hand smacked at his face.

To his credit, Ringabel merely flinched and did not step away from where he was still supporting her. "I'm not - I'm not looking!" he protested as she hit him again. Her other hand flew to tug her shirt back down over her chest and stomach, and as she flailed around to get her revenge, she felt something hard brush against her shoulder that was decidedly not his hand. Both of them froze.

"Get me up," she hissed, struggling to sit up again so that she could try and get off the ladder. She'd have an easier time hitting him then, once her feet were on the ground. Why hadn't she thought to tuck her shirt in?! Why hadn't she remembered looking at Ringabel's bare chest, nor realized her own would be visible as well?

"I am, I am," he said, his face still red as he helped her sit up and even helped her get off the ladder. The moment her feet were on the ground, he braced himself for another impact, covering his face with his hands to protect his second greatest asset (as his properly styled pompadour would always come first, if he'd had one at the moment). Seconds passed.

Letting out a breath, Ringabel peeked through his hands. Edea was glowering at him, her hands in fists… at her sides. He glanced warily at her. She was looking down at his pants. One hand twitched down to protect his  _third_  greatest asset.

"You're a pervert," she spat at him.

"I am a gentleman," he protested, pouting. His face still felt hot. "I wasn't looking, I swear. Not at your chest, at least. Not that there isn't anything wrong with your chest, it's just that I wasn't looking!" Instead of replying, Edea simply turned and stalked away. With a sigh, he made to follow, like a pitiful puppy. He wanted to clear this up, and she couldn't really hide from him here! "Edea, my dear, I promise. Please…"

He followed her all the way to the bed, where she climbed into the covers. Well, he wasn't going to follow her in there in his state, but he did hover at the side of the bed, looking forlornly down at the lump under the blankets. Maybe if he pouted hard enough…

Moments passed in awkward silence.

"I'll sleep on the couch tonight," he volunteered. The lump moved as she nodded.

Depressed, Ringabel trudged over the couch and lay down on it gingerly, curling in on himself. Truthfully, he  _hadn't_  been staring, not at her chest… only at her stomach, watching it clench with her movements. She was so strong, yet slim, and the way that sweat had rolled down her form had been enticing to watch. That alone had been enough to get him excited, but this was not his fault. His body had a mind of its own.

Well. His mood was thoroughly shattered. Any delight he may have had at being alone… with Edea… snowed in… was now gone, because she wasn't talking to him, and the cabin was cold without her by his side. With a little huff, Ringabel wiggled around until he could reach the very edge of the blanket and pull it over his shoulders. It would have to do… at least he had the fire nearby.

Edea's bad mood did not last long. Or rather, her empty stomach prevailed. It was later in the afternoon, judging by the dim light outside, that she emerged from the cocoon of blankets on the bed. Ringabel looked up from where he'd been stretched out on the couch, rereading through his journal, sketching idly in some spare pieces of paper he'd tucked in it beforehand.

"What's for dinner?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes. She made an adorable sight, her hair mussed and cheeks red with sleep. He drank in the sight, before realizing she'd finally spoken to him again.

"Ah, right… dinner." He hadn't been cooking; instead he had wallowed in self-pity and napped between sketches. Staying quiet to be sure that he didn't incur anymore of her wrath. With a sigh, Ringabel sat up.

"It's your turn," she pointed out. He couldn't miss the way her eyes swept over his lap before she sat down on the couch next to him. Of course, it had been long enough that there was nothing out of the ordinary now.

"I know, I know… you made breakfast, yes?" He longed to touch her hair, sweep some of the messy strands behind her ear. His hand lifted for a moment before he put it back down. "It's my turn." Even if all she'd done really, was heat the leftovers.

"We skipped lunch," she pointed out. "We never skip lunch." Her stomach grumbled in agreement.

Now she was making him feel even more guilty. "Alright, alright. I'll make dinner as quick as possible." She took up his space on the couch as soon as he stood, stretching out in the warm space like a cat. He watched her for a moment, wanting to pat her head, before her glare pushed him into the kitchen.

He supposed the beans were as ready as they would ever be. Lighting the stove with a fire spell, he dumped the beans and lentils into a clean pot, stirring gently. As it began to boil, he added in dried meat and a  _conservative_  amount of spices from another one of the storage boxes that Edea dug up for him at his request.

"I knew I should have looked for more seasoning last night," she commented, half-leaning over the back of the couch as she watched him cook.

"I think you had enough," he replied as he added in more meat. Once softened, the meat would be chewy and overcooked, but it would at least add flavor, he decided. And they would have something to fill their stomachs as they waited for the snow to melt enough that they could leave the cottage.

She stuck her tongue out at him and he found himself smiling. "There's nothing wrong with experimenting, Ringabel."

"I agree. However, we do need to keep an eye on our supplies, Edea. I still remember your threat to eat me after all." That comment made her giggle, and he felt his heart hammer in his chest. This was much improved to the shunning she had done earlier in the day.

After another few long moments of silence, Edea sighed loudly and got up from the couch. He watched her move to the front door and open it… causing snow to scatter across the ground as it fell from the pile up. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just checking to see if we can leave, yet." She pushed back some of the snow with her hands. She could almost see the top of it now, if she stood on her toes.

"Perhaps if we had a shovel. Could you find one?" He didn't recall seeing one, but given that the cabin had been used as storage, perhaps it had been squirreled away.

"No," she said, continuing to push the snow. Ringabel shook his head, then came over to take her hands in his. They were cold and wet, and he covered her fingers with his own.

"Not without gloves, my dear." He ignored the look she gave him at the name. "Besides, the snow does seem to be melting a bit. Let's wait until it's just a bit shorter before we try to go out." He didn't like the idea of possibly getting any tunnel caving in on them. He knew people who had died in such ways… as did she.

Edea puffed out her cheeks. "You just want me all to yourself." But she acquiesced all the same, pulling her hands from his grip easily and flexing her less frigid fingers.

Ringabel dutifully returned to the stove. "What man wouldn't?"

"… Gross! You could at least try to deny it."

Perhaps he shouldn't have phrased it that way. Ringabel found himself a tad flustered at the tone of her voice, clearly his throat nervously. "I simply mean to say that I enjoy spending time with you, Edea. TIme when we're not fighting monsters or we're tired from walking or when we're otherwise busy."

He could hear her finally closing the door. "It's boring," she admitted. "But… I suppose you do have a point. It's… quiet. Though I do miss Agnes and Tiz. I hope they're getting along well without us."

"Ah, but remember that without us, that means they're alone in a room together. And you know how cold it gets in Eternia… - ah!"

Edea had thrown a snowball at him, and it hit his head squarely, falling into powder across his shoulders. He turned to gape at her.

"With  _Airy_ ," she reminded him, but there was a genuinely warm smile on her face. "We're alone, too, you know."

"I… I know," was all he could say, still astonished that she would attack him so brazenly when his back was turned. She giggled now at the look on his face. Her laughter heated him more than any fire could.

"Is dinner ready?"

He wanted to retort that it was difficult to cook when certain blonde women kept distracting him, but instead he shook his head and finally closed his mouth. "Let's let it sit for a few moments to thicken up. I thought I saw some flour we can add in to help."

"Ringabel!" Edea protested.

But in the end, she caved and he joined her on the couch as their dinner simmered on the stove. It smelled heavenly… or perhaps he had reached the point of hunger that anything smelled good. His stomach grumbled… followed closely by Edea's.

"I'm so hungry," Edea moaned, and he twitched as she leaned against him. They were so close! And she was so warm… he reached over to pat her shoulder carefully. She seemed to have forgiven him for the early transgression, and he wasn't keen on pushing his luck right now.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Dinner will be ready soon, and you can eat as much as you like." He knew that they needed to stay fed, and that would help them stay warm. Though they did have the wood stove that kept the cabin warm, they were still snowed in, and it could still get quite cold especially at night when the fire would go out. Without enough food, their bodies wouldn't have enough energy to keep warm in the times when the stove wasn't helping. He hummed to himself as he thought.

"I will," she assured him, and he choked mid-hum as he felt her practically snuggle up to his side, her arm wrapping around his waist. "But don't forget you need to eat too. I'll never forgive you if you sacrifice yourself for me or some other stupid thought that gets in your head."

His hand moved carefully from her shoulder to her head. She wasn't wearing her bow, and he found his fingers slid easily into the very roots of her hair. It would be even easier to slide them though the length of her hair, but… he kept his hand still. "No self-sacrifice at all. I understand, my dear. You want to save me for the very end."

"What?"

"In case you need to eat my flesh for survival. You said you would!"

"Oh… right. Yeah."

He cocked his head at her as she started to turn red, then lifted an eyebrow when she looked up to glare at him. "Don't get any weird thoughts in your head about… oh, I don't know, you being happy to be consumed so that our flesh could be one!"

That made him laugh. "I would never say such a thing." Thinking such a thing on the other hand… it had been very tempting to say those thoughts out loud, but he had worried she would just leave his body laying around if he did. At least give him a burial with honors!

Edea shoved her hand into his stomach. "Yeah…. I thought so." The glare she gave him was nothing short of suspicious, and he smiled at her, laying on as much charm and adoration as humanly possible.

"Just spending this time with you is enough," he said. "I would rather be alive to experience it."

Sometimes, his mouth just said things. Her eyes went wide, and she looked away, and this was one of those times where he wasn't sure if he had something good or bad. Except… as he tried to watch her face, he felt her hand sliding back around his waist, and she leaned into his chest until her face was obscured fully by her hair.

His own hand slid down her thick locks of hair.

"I was cold," she said after a peaceful, if not awkward moment, and pulled back from him. "Is dinner ready, do you think?"

He took a deep breath, his heart hammering away. His hand trailed down her arms… "I'm.. sure it is," he decided, and he hadn't even finished the sentence before the girl pushed herself out of his arms and practically leapt up off the couch, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Great! I'll take two bowls!"

He still didn't have much of an appetite, and so was content with only the one bowl as she ate from two at once (so they could clean up faster, she said). The lentils and beans that comprised most of the soup had expanded greatly in the water, and he'd ended up making much more than he'd expected. As long as they continued eating at the same rate, he wouldn't have to cook dinner again until the night after next, perhaps… though he hoped by then they would be out of the cabin.

… a part of him was hoping that he'd have the chance to cook for her at least one more time.

Edea was polishing off the last of her bowl, and the dregs of his as well, when she yawned.

"Tired already?" he asked. They really hadn't done much today, trapped as they were.

"Bored, more like…" she admitted, and she glanced toward the living area and bed. "There's really not a lot for us to do except talk, and eat, and sleep." When Edea looked back at him, he was surprised to see she looked somewhat guilty. "Not that talking to you is a terrible chore!"

It was enough to make him chuckle. "No? I would be happy to talk as much as you'd like, make it entertaining."

"No thanks. I don't want to listen to some of what you have to say."

Well then. He frowned at her, even if he knew what she meant. She ignored the look and continued on. "I suppose that if I were born and raised in Gravemark, I would be… "

"Still you. You would be working on your sword forms."

"Yeah," she said, smiling at him. "Working on my forms. But then I'd also take a break and work on sewing some clothes. Cleaning, maybe. Oh, making candles! I've heard people do that. Reading some new books from the big city… maybe helping out with younger siblings, like Alternis. He needs attention and care."

Ringabel wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at that remark. If Braev had never left Gravemark, he was certain Alternis would have died a very early, very painful death. And if he hadn't died, he would have wished he had… no need to tell Edea those dark thoughts. Instead, he added, "Alternis would be… doing repairs around the cottage. He'd have his fair amount of chores, such as making sure that there was enough wood chopped for the stove. Fixing drafts. Making furniture…"

"The quiet simple life." Edea made a face. "No adventure, or people to beat up, no justice to serve!"

"Heaven knows you wouldn't ever settle for something like that," he teased.

"I like my life," she said, idling scraping her spoon in one of her bowls even though the soup was long drained. "I like what I do every day, with the people I do it with… had I grown up in Gravemark, I would never have met Agnes, or Tiz, or… you."

She looked up at him, and he found he had no response for that. Their eyes met, and he looked away.

After a moment, Edea sighed and licked her spoon. "I'll clean up. It's my turn, and it's only fair, isn't it? You go sit on the couch and I'll be there in a moment."

Ringabel obeyed, handing over his bowl to Edea when she stood to retrieve it, then making his way over to the couch. He picked up the blanket that had been left there and shook it out, then wrapped it around his shoulders and waited for her to return.

The fire crackled as he stared at it. The sounds of Edea in the kitchen cleaning up could not be drowned out.

Soon, he could hear Edea padding across the floor to him, and when he wordlessly lifted up the edge of the blanket, she took the invitation to dive down into it, pressing herself against his side. He was slowly getting used to such close contact. It was… necessary, after all. There was still a chill in the air even though they had the fire roaring. Drafts.

"Thanks for dinner," Edea said as she leaned into him. Her hand brushed against his side."It was a bit bland, though. I wish there was more that we could add to these stews."

He had to think of a diplomatic comment. "Well, they didn't exactly expect people would need to use the stock as much as we have. It was just for emergency storage. Next time, I'll be sure to bring my supply of chilli pepper powder with me."

"Oh, would you? That's that we need!"

"If  _someone_  doesn't use it in their  _socks_ , I would be happy to." He was still mad about that.

Edea shook her head. "Oh, Ringabel. Don't be so silly. Sometimes one has to make sacrifices." She bounced slightly in her seat, jostling him, and he found himself smiling at her energy. " But when it comes to food, those sacrifices should be minimal, you're right. Dinner could have used that extra kick."

"Really? We'll just get something strong when we leave this place and return to Eternia, how about that?" Yes, that was the solution. He continued, clearing his throat. "We could… we could even make it a… date?"

She didn't respond to him immediately. Time seemed to pass by agonizingly slowly, and he had nearly lost all nerve, ready to stand up and salvage what was left of his pride, when she finally spoke up. "I'll have to think about it. We need to get out of here first, after all."

He sighed. She had a point. He both loved and hated when she had a point. "Alright," he agreed. It wasn't a no, which was more than he could say about his last invitation. "But promise me that you'll think about it."

The woman made a noise of agreement, slightly muffled as she turned her head into his shoulder. "Later," she mumbled.

It was so warm under the blanket with her, the two of them contently snuggling together. He had a quick thought that this was almost as good as a date - almost, because his hair was down and unstyled, and he desperately needed to shave but didn't trust the razor that he'd found under the vanity in the bathroom. A date with her had to be perfect, and not the result of being stranded out in a blizzard. Ringabel shifted so that he could turn his torso more toward her, both of his arms making their way around her to hold her tight. She'd said "maybe" to a date, but hadn't protested this close contact.

In response, she yawned. "It's a little warm, don't you think?"

"We could open a window, or one of the doors," he suggested.

"Haha," she replied, and stretched with a loud yawn. "I'm going to lie in bed for a bit. Can I borrow your journal and read?"

"And then what?"

"I'll probably go to bed."

Ringabel shook his head, sighing. "We'll go to bed together, then. I'll lay - oh." No, he was exiled to the couch, wasn't he? No laying with Edea and keeping an eye on her as she went through his journal (he'd caught her making notes more than once, which was cute, but he still worried she'd go overboard). He was doomed to a cold lonely night. All by himself.

Edea gave him an exasperated look. "You don't really believe I'd make you sleep on the couch in the middle of a blizzard, do you?"

"The blizzard is over," he pointed out.

"Ringabel," she replied, emphasizing his name in the impatient way he was very familiar with. "I'd rather not wake up to a human popsicle on the couch if it's all the same to you. We'll… we'll talk about it later. When we're out of here. But for now, I'm over it if you are."

Still, he hesitated. She sighed and tilted her head at him. "How on earth could I explain to Tiz and Agnes that I let you freeze to death instead of allowing you share body heat with me? Do you know how disapproving they would be? And who would fly Grandship?"

"Oh," Ringabel replied dumbly. Right… Tiz and Agnes probably would miss him, he hoped. Tiz was awfully practical, and wouldn't see a problem with the two them sharing a bed in a blizzard. They'd all slept in Edea's big bed in the middle of Central Command, after all… both for warmth and for security, considering they'd been in the middle of enemy territory.

"Very well," he finally said, though it was to Edea's back because she had already turned away to smooth the covers of the bed. "I understand."

After they both took turns taking shortcuts to the toilet, the two of them stretched out under the covers of the large bed. Ringabel had once again lowered the fire and brought over a lamp so that she could read, pulling over a large chest to her side of bed so that she could see well. She curled up on her side facing the light, his journal open toward the beginning as she read. Wanting to keep an eye on her (and her hand, though he hadn't seen her grab a pen), he was very close behind, his legs tucked up enough that his knees brushed against hers, and her hair stretched over his arm. He reached up to touch it.

She wiggled back against him, and Ringabel inhaled sharply as her head nestled into his shoulder. Her back pressed against his chest, and one of her ankles slid between his.

"What?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him. She was frowning. "There's a draft between us."

"Right," he replied. It did feel much warmer with her against him like this. Even though they still were fully clothed (and in their day clothes, no less, for the second day in a row), he could feel her heat permeating through. He was so, so glad he hadn't slept on the couch tonight.

Wait, something was missing, wasn't it? Ringabel flailed as he tried to prop himself up on his elbow, looking around… there!

Edea's sword was leaning against the writing desk nearby. For some reason, she hadn't taken it into bed. He stared at it for a long moment, wondering why she'd left it there, and when she was going to realize her mistake and force him to fetch it.

"Settle down," Edea groused as she shifted again, and looking down, he realized he was lying on her hair.

"Sorry," he apologized, and carefully adjusted his weight so that her hair was out of the danger zone. Just as carefully, he draped an arm casually over her waist. Very casual. The most casual arm draping anyone had ever seen, even as he lowered himself back to the bed.

Edea turned another page in the journal.

Ringabel closed his eyes, scrunching up his nose as her hair brushed against it. He'd gotten a glimpse of the page she was on, and was reciting it to himself, having long since memorized the contents. She was reading the portion he'd written as Alternis, even though many of the pages had been lost when he'd fallen through the Pillar of Light and into her world. With his memories returned, he could vaguely remember what he'd written in those lost pages, and not for the first time, wondered if he should attempt to recreate them? While similar enough to Alternis's journal, there were enough differences that his friends should notice.

As he considered this to himself, going over the missing pages in his mind and what had previously been transcribed on them, Edea shuffled a bit, then closed the book with a yawn.

"Tired?" he asked. His hand flexed at her hip as he wondered what he should do with it now.

Edea passed the book over her shoulder to him, and it was just the smallest pang of regret that he lifted his hand to retrieve it. "Yeah," she said, once it was securely in his grasp. "Laying down makes me tired. All my energy is just… poof, gone!" As Ringabel rolled over to gently toss his journal on the nightstand on his side of the bed, unable to move far due to Edea pinning his right arm down, the woman leaned over to blow out the lamp. Then, she pulled the blankets up over her shoulder and clutched his free, nearly numb hand.

"I'd say it's as good a time to ever to sleep then," he replied. It seemed very dark outside - hard to tell with the windows mostly covered with snow. But it was quiet and still, and very very cozy under the blankets. Eternia did have short days, after all, and there was just so little they could do awake.

She yawned again, and he found himself yawning in return. "We could," she agreed.

Then Ringabel choked when Edea snuggled into him. Her whole body had pressed against his and -

"What?" the girl asked irritably, sitting up and turning so that she could stare at him. He took the opportunity to free his right arm, rubbing at it. "What?" she repeated, and she hit him lightly with a hand.

"Nothing," he said. This was a moment out of his dreams, and he was  _ruining_  it. The light shone from behind her, casting a shadow on her features so that he could barely see them, much to his displeasure.

"Then just be lay there and be quiet, it's  _cold_ ," Edea complained and she threw herself back down onto the bed, onto his aching arm, and curled up a bit on herself, not nearly as close as she had been before.

She was right, cold air entered their little nest anytime the blankets shifted, but it was very warm underneath, where their legs and torsos were. With a sigh, Ringabel decided to push his luck and wrapped his free arm around Edea's waist, pulling the two of them together. "I'll be good," he promised. "Just… move your head a little, please? My arm is going numb."

Edea wiggled down obediently and without comment, until her head rested against the juncture of his shoulder and chest, and he stretched his arm with relief, feeling pins and needles crawl through it. "Better?" the girl asked, and one of her hands moved up to touch his inner arm, poking at it.

"Much," he breathed, flexing his hand as it came back to painful life.

Edea sighed. "Then goodnight, Ringabel."

"Goodnight, Edea," he replied. It felt… odd, to sleep with her in his arms like this. No sword, no blankets, no Tiz between them. Ringabel tucked Edea's head underneath his chin as he closed his eyes and attempted to sleep, listening to the wind pick up outside. He could feel Edea's fidgets against him cease, her breathing even out, and his own begin to slow as…


	3. Day 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Ringabel and Edea bathe, wash clothing, and get things a little heated.
> 
> Get it? Heated?

The new day dawned very similarly to the previous. The sun was only just beginning to rise, the sky outside still a deep blue-red, when the bed’s inhabitants stirred. **  
**

Edea woke feeling warm, a little too warm. The air outside the layer of blankets was cold, but she had gone to sleep fully dressed - more or less - and wrapped up in Ringabel’s arms, as well. The result was that she could feel the sweat sticking the two of them together, and smell it too. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as she moved and felt her shirt peel off her skin.

And then, she felt something else, pressing urgently against her backside, and her cheeks flared with heat - she hadn’t known she could feel even more warm, but then again, she did like to be surprised at least once a day. It kept life interesting.

This surprise was something she didn’t know how to feel about, though. While her initial urge had been to punch him for this… she shouldn’t let it get to her, really - for all her appearances and general attitude toward sex, she had spent enough time with men in close quarters that she had grown familiar with the concept of morning erections. It wasn’t  _truly_  that big a deal; if Tiz Arrior of all people could sport one now and then, Ringabel definitely could, and had. Not to mention some of the Sky Knights she’d witnessed who had slept in too late for a cold shower, rushing to morning role call. As angry as she had been at him yesterday over the same thing when he had been staring at her, it was different in the morning, when he was asleep and as far as she knew, was experiencing something that all men did.

Still, seeing it briefly before the boys noticed and scurried away with embarrassment, and feeling it so intimately against her were two entirely different things. Edea found herself squirming, only to realize that  _probably wasn’t helping_ because most of her squirming was right against the object in question. There were too many layers between him - it - and her, and she wasn’t sure if it was getting harder, or she was just too aware of it now. If she shifted, she thought she could feel it move, even if Ringabel himself did not, only his chest moving slightly behind her back as he breathed.

She really needed to stop thinking about it. On a list of things she wanted to dwell on, Ringabel’s penis was down near the bottom, right on the edge of the paper. But try as she might to think of something else - sword forms, freshly baked pastries, fighting monsters - her thoughts kept coming back to the pressure against her rear. His arms were too tight around her for her to flee the bed entirely, so until he woke up, she’d have to do  _something_  about it.

Shifting once more, moving back against him, Edea wedged it in the crevice of her rear. That, at least, was more comfortable than having it press distractedly elsewhere… even if the new resting place meant it was very close to her own sex, and she was feeling heat build up there, making her feel even warmer than she’d been before. A subtle throbbing sensation was starting, and she wondered if he’d be able to feel that through the layers between them… once he woke up, that was.

Listening to him breathe, snoring peacefully, probably dreaming dirty things… it made her a more than little annoyed. And then she’d had to deal with  _his_  morning wood on top of it! Edea squirmed in his arms, rocking her hips in a way that guided said wood against her, and practically elbowed him in the side. “Wake up!”

Ringabel let out a noise of discontent, clearly unhappy at a rude awakening, and the hand that clung in front of her stomach flexed. His other arm stretched, then bent so that he could touch his face.

Edea stopped her squirming, waiting with bated breath for him to wake. Oh, maybe she shouldn’t call attention to the position they were in but let him notice it himself. He’d die of embarrassment!

After a few moments of the man trying to pull himself into the world of the awake and living, he let out another moan, stretching out all his limbs. The movement made his hips press against her own, and she bit her lip to stifle any noises  _she_  might make.

“Is it morning already?” he asked, words slightly slurred with sleep.

“Yes,” Edea whispered, and she realized that her heart was doing something funny in her chest as she listened to him. “I’m ready to get up, but you’re all… clingy.”

“Mmm,” he replied, not quite understanding. His brain was foggy with sleep, and his limbs were warm and heavy. He was not in any rush to go anywhere, not when she felt so nice in his arms. He squeezed her for the briefest of moments as he yawned, nuzzling into her head. Edea was both worried he’d fall back asleep, and a little bothered that he was getting all touchy, wondering if she needed to deliver a real elbowing to his soft bits, when she felt him stiffen, his grip going slack. His breath caught in his chest.

She wondered; what had he noticed first - the state of his manhood or how tightly he was holding her, as though they were a couple?

When he didn’t inhale a few long seconds, Edea nearly worried that she had actually killed him, and rolled over slightly so that she could look at him over her shoulder, not noticing that way that her weight pressed into him all along the length of his torso. What she could see of his face was a deep red, that red travelling up to the tips of his ears and down his neck.

His arm unwound from her waist, and he rolled back almost as soon as she did, until he was on his back and she was no longer pressed to him. Edea continued rolling, shifting until she faced him properly now, propping herself up on her elbow. The covers covered them both below the waist.

“Sorry,” he apologized, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. “I get a little - in my sleep - I don’t - ”

“It’s fine,” she flapped her hand, enjoying the way he stuttered. “You kept me warm in the night.”

Ringabel took a deep breath. “Yes…”

Edea weighed whether or not she wanted to bring up his little indiscretion. It probably wasn’t kind to refer to that part of him as little, though, she knew that much. “Don’t get any ideas,” she settled on. “It’s just because we’re trapped here, and it’s cold. And don’t get used to it, either. It’s not going to happen once we leave.”

Ringabel stifled a yawn, looking a bit guilty. “Very well. I shall cherish each moment that you’re with me, then.” He paused. “Was there…… never mind.”

“Anything else?” the woman finished for him. “Well, we both kind of stink. And it’s really sweaty when we’re underneath the blankets, maybe a bit too much. Maybe we need only one blanket in the night; they arerather thick, after all.” He made a noise, as though agreeing with her, and she felt him shift uncomfortably. Trying to hide her smile, Edea added, “And your dick got really hard against my butt.”

Ringabel gaped at her, and his face, which had been recovering, turned a deep scarlet. It was fascinating to watch the color spread down his neck. “ _Edea_!” he cried, sounding aghast as he propped himself on an elbow and half sat up. His legs crossed slightly. “That was - that was just - you know it just happens! It didn’t mean anything!”

“I know,” she said cheerfully. He hadn’t even been  _awake_ , how could she think he was being dirty? And she’d seen both him and Tiz with awkward morning erections more than once. After laughing at them the first couple of times, there wasn’t any point in mentioning it, until now.

“I’m getting up,” Ringabel declared, now thoroughly awake, and she watched him fling the bedcovers aside as he slipped out of bed. The front of his pants was still bulging slightly, and Edea found her eyes following it - and him - as he stomped with bare feet over to the back door and opened it to be greeted by a wall of snow.

He took a handful and pressed it to his red face.

Edea giggled. “Are you going to shave with the snow, too?” He had stubble growing in, barely visible due to the color of his hair, but there nonetheless. It wasn’t a bad look. He was young for a full beard, perhaps, but Edea always thought men should have some facial hair.

“If I wanted to die of infection,” Ringabel muttered as he rubbed his handful of snow across his face. The freezing substance woke him up more thoroughly than a cup of coffee. “The razors here are rusted over. Even I am not that desperate yet.”

“Oh, we have my sword,” Edea pointed out, and she made to leave the bed as well, pausing to push her feet into her boots. “I could give you a shave.”

“I’ll consider it,” he replied, edging away as she joined him at the door. Instead of taking any snow though, Edea was looking at the white, fluffy wall in front of them.

“Is it just me, or has it not gone down at all?” she asked.

Ringabel examined it more closely now, taking the opportunity of her being distracted to drop some of the remnants of the snow against the back of her neck. She shrieked and danced away from him. “I believe it has, but only just a bit. It makes sense it wouldn’t melt if the sun weren’t out.”

She took a handful of snow to toss at him, laughing as it exploded in powder against his chest, adding spots to his shirt.  His stomach was already as damp with sweat as hers felt, a testament to exactly how warm their bed was getting.

Ringabel pouted at her as he brushed the snow off. Edea used the excuse of following the path of the snow to the floor to check him out once more; the bulge was very nearly gone.

“Another day, then,” he guessed. “We’ll have to let the sun do her magic.”

“Ugh,” Edea replied, her good mood evaporating like she wished the snow would. Couldn’t they just… aim a firaga out the door or something? “Then we’re stuck another day together.”

“You needn’t sound so excited. I am thrilled, of course!”

“You would be. In any case, we have to do something about the smell - I’m not spending another day like this,” she said, gesturing to herself. Her clothes were sweaty, and she felt and smelled terrible. That might be trapped, but that didn’t mean they had to be filthy. Filth lead to sickness and being sick and trapped with Ringabel would be even worse.

“You want to bathe?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked her up and down.

“Is that so surprising? Unlike some people, I don’t enjoy the smell of my - what was it, natural musk?”

“It was only that one time!” he protested, then cleared his throat. “The restroom has a basin you can use to wash - it’ll be big enough to sit in, if you want a bath. And then I think I saw a smaller one we can use to wash our clothes, provided we find soap.”

This was going to be tricky, without a change of clothes. Edea almost changed her mind, but when Ringabel passed her to go look for the basin, she got a fresh whiff of his scent and - nope. If they were going to be walled up together, he was going to smell nice, even if she had to hold him hostage in the tub at swordpoint.

Of course, if the two of them hadn’t decided it would be a brilliant idea to exercise, she doubted that they’d smell quite this… ripe by now. It had seemed like a good idea at the time! She threw up her hands and followed him.

Shortly Ringabel had dragged out the smaller of the basins into the room. “How about this,” he explained. “While you wash up, I’ll wash your clothes and hang them to dry over the fire. And then as I wash, you do the same.”

“One, I don’t trust you with my clothes,” she started, ignoring his protest of “ _Really?!_ ”,“And two, our clothes are not going to dry that quickly, fire or not. Shouldn’t we try to find a change of clothes or…  _something_  to wear while we wait?” She wasn’t keen on the idea of being nude near him, not when she was feeling confusing things.

“Wouldn’t you think we would have  _noticed_  extra clothes lying around here?” Ringabel replied, frowning. They had searched all over, after all, and while they had found some scraps of fabric, and Edea  _did_  sew, there were no needles about and he doubted she could make anything serviceable.

“Well…” Edea glanced around. “We could look some more. Come on.”

She turned before he could answer, though she heard him grumble behind her as he followed her to the other side of the room. There wasn’t much there they hadn’t already gone through since yesterday, but Edea rummaged around anyway. There had to have been some sort of dresser or armoire for clothing, but she couldn’t see one! Upon closer inspection, there  _were_  gouges in the wooden floor that hinted that something heavy may have once been standing, but was now removed… which made her scowl and glance over where Ringabel was once again going through the desk, his expression blank.

She hated it when his expression was like that, making him hard to read. Who did he think he was,  _Alternis_?! Her frown deepened further, especially when her stomach growled suddenly. Ringabel glanced up at her, and their eyes met.

“I’m hungry,” she said.

“I noticed,” he replied, not unamused, and he turned away to head off the into the kitchen. She followed him and watched as he dug the pot of leftovers out of the ice box and shoved it on the stove, starting the fire with a quick spell. “We’ll let it sit here while we look,” he said, as he stirred the mush around.

Edea wanted food  _now,_  though. She came up on his side to take the spoon from him. “You look,” she suggested. “I’ll stay here.” They needed some distance. Between desperately wanting to bathe and being hungry, she was feeling irritated and overstimulated, and she hated having him in close proximity. If only there were actual rooms here!

Ringabel looked sidelong at her. “Don’t add anything to it!” he warned. “The taste is perfect just the way it is.”

She flapped her hand at him. “There’s nothing wrong with experimenting once in a while, Ringabel. Come on, it’s a little bland.” She watched him grab the box that contained the satchels of spices as he walked past. “Ringabel!” Didn’t he trust her?!

Ringabel was on his toes as he placed the box on the very top of the armoire, far out of her reach. “I like it bland,” he called across the room, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Just like your taste in women,” she muttered, thinking back to his many girlfriends. The few she’d met had been… nice enough, she supposed, but more than a little bland. It explained everything.

“Wha - my taste in what, exactly?” the man asked her, staring at her with wide eyes. He hated arguing with Edea, or anyone, especially in such an enclosed area, but he thought he’d heard the tail end of her remark and wasn’t sure how to feel about it. His taste in women was fine; he loved her, didn’t he? Perhaps in the past he’d been attracted to some who were more beautiful on the outside than in, but…

“Nothing,” she replied hastily. That had been a out of line, and without coffee, Ringabel had been known to be tetchy and argumentative in the morning, even toward the girls. She did not want to start a fight.

As she stirred breakfast, still wishing she could add in more seasoning, Ringabel continued to search in the living portion of the cabin, opening drawers and peering under the table. Finally, he disappeared into the restroom.

Probably to tidy up, Edea thought to herself. He could be so vain; the day that he didn’t spend an hour in the bathroom before making an appearance to his friends would be the day she believed he was truly in love, proposals or not.

The stew was nicely warmed by the time he emerged, his hair dusty and disheveled, and his arms full. Edea briefly considered helping him before she went back to stirring. He’d be fine. Manual labor was good for him.

Ringabel deposited his findings on the kitchen table with a loud noise. “I found soap,” he said, gesturing to a tiny tin bucket with one hand as he wiped his face with the back of the other, smearing dirt on his cheeks. “ And a dolly to go in the other basin here. We can wash our clothes with that.”

She sighed. “And…”

“And there’s plenty of blankets that we can huddle under while we wait for our clothes to dry,” he supplied, testing the long dolly in the tub. It clanged. “We’ll make a clothesline from the rope in the supplies.”

She really wanted to take a bath, really wanted to put on clean warm clothes, but the idea of huddling under a blanket while she waited for her clothes to dry wasn’t ideal, especially knowing he would be in the same boat, and nearby. She’d already had a close encounter with his dick once today, she didn’t exactly want another.

Ringabel approached her now, seemingly in a slightly better mood, even without his coffee. “Edea, please. I’m not sure what you think I may do, but… it’ll be more efficient if I clean your clothes, and you clean mine. Less risk of us catching cold. ” He looked down at her pleadingly.

Edea growled in response. She didn’t have much of a choice, did she? “Don’t do anything crazy!” she cried, taking out her frustration on the pot of food in front of her. It was so much easier when Tiz did the laundry, or at least when Tiz helped with the laundry, and when the Proprietress cooked for them. And another day alone with Ringabel with so very little to do sounded dreadful. Boredom and Edea did not mix well, boredom and Ringabel mixed even worse.

“I would never,” he replied, sounding affronted. “I am a gentleman, after all. Besides, it’s freezing. I would hardly hide your clothes from you.” He gave her a pointed look. “I ask you the same, of course… don’t get sneaky.”

“I’m not sneaky,” she mumbled, flushing. Him hiding her clothes had  _not_  been what she had thought he might do but sure, they would go with that. Maybe she  _was_  being unreasonable.

Once the leftovers were boiling hot, they ladled it out into bowls. Edea quickly noticed that Ringabel’s portion was much smaller than her own, and she glared up at him, knocking his hand. Doing so jarred his bowl, and hot soup splashed over his fingers. With a hiss, Ringabel quickly set his bowl down on the counter before he dropped it.

“What?” he cried, reaching for a cloth to press against his scalded skin. “What did I do?!” He stared at her, betrayed.

“You know what you did, Ringabel!” she argued, setting her own food aside before it spilled over one or both of them. “I’ve already told you that I don’t need you starving yourself for me - I don’t need you to put food aside for me as though I’m a child. I don’t want you to go hungry for my sake!” She’d seen him eat large meals in the past; he could pack it away almost as much as she could, and she had been a little hungry the past couple of days with the limited food. Nothing major, nothing that would kill her, but she didn’t want him going without for  _her_. He’d gone without enough in the past.

“I’m not,” he replied, rubbing the dish towel roughly over his fingers. He reached over the sink to wet the cloth before pressing it back on his skin. “I’ve had plenty of smaller meals in my life, even as a Dark Knight. When trapped and with limited supplies, you have to ration yourself to make sure you have enough to last you until rescue or escape, after all. What I don’t eat now, I can eat later”

She hadn’t even thought of rationing and suddenly felt chastened. He had a valid point, and she hated it when he did - it reminded her that underneath his flighty, outlandish exterior, he had a good brain on him and that he could be counted on to use it when it mattered most. It was like his heart, hiding underneath the inappropriate comments he made.

Unable to find something to say to say that wouldn’t continue the argument that she had no energy for, she fell silent and watched him examine his hand. It wasn’t burnt, but the skin was red.

“I’m sorry,” she settled on, and reached to take his hands in her own. They were just as calloused as her own, and much larger, and she whispered a quick healing spell that cleared up the redness as she traced some of his callouses on his palm with her thumb. Luckily, the healing spell did not affect those. It would be terrible if he had to regrow them all over again, considering he was a swordsman.

Ringabel pulled his hands out of hers first, surprisingly, though he moved slowly. “You’ve nothing to apologize for. Just be careful, please. We only packed a few potions.” They had wanted to rely on magic alone for their trip, but Tiz had  _insisted_ on the potions, just in case. Luckily, sleep easily renewed the energy needed for spells, and so she had mana in abundance, so she doubted they would need to resort to the potions, but… just in case.

Now that his hands were free, Ringabel picked up his bowl again. “Let’s eat and then take baths,” he said.

“Okay,” she found herself agreeing. She didn’t want to fight with him, and didn’t want to hurt him again. The sooner she bathed and got clean, the sooner she might feel better,

Their breakfast wasn’t delicious, but it at least partially filled their bellies. As Edea took a  _small_  second helping for the energy boost, Ringabel set some water to boil in another large pan. His plan, he’d explained, was to put snow in the basin and then pour boiling water over it - both melting the snow and evening out the temperature. The result hopefully, with some trial and error, would be a bath that was tolerable, if not slightly too warm or too cold.

In the meantime, they needed hot water to clean their clothes, too. With all of those fires going, it was actually getting warm in the cabin, and the two of them were sweating and red-faced by the time they had finished preparing for the now even more needed baths.

To make things easier, they had dragged the wash basin behind the screen and carefully thrown blankets over it so that neither of them could see through the other side. But this way, they could talk while they bathed and cleaned, and she would be in the warmth of the main room. They had both agreed to avoid the chill of the restroom as much as possible aside from necessary visits.

Edea stood on one side of the screen, tapping her feet as she waited for Ringabel to give her the okay to undress. Now that the bath water was nicely warmed and he was boiling the last batch of water for the laundry, she just wanted to get on with it.

“Hold on,” he called, and she heard the sound of water splashing into the tall basin. “And now the soap and… alright, Edea. It’s ready!”

“Finally,” she breathed, and started to disrobe. Her clothes she flung over the top of the screen so that they landed on the floor on the other side for him to retrieve (another advantage of bathing in the main room), including, with much reluctance, her bandeau and panties.

“Don’t do anything weird,” she threatened him as she heard the rustle of her clothes being picked up. She listened carefully to the sound for any shenanigans.

“So distrustful,” he sniffed. “Have some faith in me, my dear!”

Grumbling a response, the grumbles faded as she slipped into slightly soapy bath water. Ahhh… Edea smiled as she settled in, wiggling slightly in the water and causing it to splash on the floor. Whoops. Oh well. They would clean up later.

Sighing loudly, she stretched her legs out slightly above the metal rim of the basin and ran her hands down her calves. Lathering some more soap onto a hand towel, she got to quick work scrubbing her legs of the layer of grime that had built up. The soap itself was harsh and smelled medicinal, but it did the job of cleaning her nicely and she continued to scrub until her skin was shiny and wet and  _clean_ , most importantly of all.

As she scrubbed, she heard the sound of Ringabel using the dolly stick to clean her clothes, the man huffing loudly as he worked to agitate the bundle of cloth to get the soap mixed in well with the dirt and sweat in the clothes. While they both knew that the end result wouldn’t be as effective without letting the laundry soak for at least a few hours, at least it would be something. She closed her eyes, so that she could see him in her mind’s eye. His face would be red, and he was probably rather wet, his clothes clinging to him as he was splashed with soap water, his strong arms driving the dolly in and out of the basin.

… though the water was warm, the air around her still had a chill. When she opened her eyes, she realized her nipples had stiffened painfully, which meant she needed to finish up soon and get out. Hunching over and grasping a bowl in her hands, she soaked her hair and scrubbed tiny bits of soap at the nape of her neck, where the sweatiest parts were.  Not nearly as vain of her hair as the blond man, she did want to take care of it, and old body soap was not the best to use, so she would need to be careful.

Ringabel seemed to be finished, or just resting, as the sounds of the stick in the basin had ceased.

“Ringabel?” she called after she was finished rinsing her hair and didn’t think she would inhale any of the sharp scented soap. Her eyes were still squeezed shut, just in case.

“Yes?” he replied distantly. “I’m letting it soak a bit before another round and the rinse. No need to worry, dear. Stay in there a bit longer.”

Well, if he insisted, she wasn’t going to argue with him. Carefully pulling her hair back over her shoulders so that she didn’t flip water everywhere in the room, she squeezed out excess moisture and relaxed, sinking down further into the water.

He was just a few feet away, she remembered, glancing over in his direction. With the screen in the way, they could not see each other, but there was nothing preventing him from walking around the other side of the screen to peek. For such a perverted man, she almost half expected it of him; she doubted even Alternis would be able to resist! That thought made her laugh softly to herself. Alternis would never peek. He was far too much uptight to do something so indecent, not to mention afraid of incurring her wrath or something. Which in itself angered her, because that meant he avoided her most of the time. Even if she didn’t hold romantic feelings for him, she _would_ like to see the man every now and then.

“Mrgrgr,” she mumbled to herself as she scrubbed at her arms again. He’d pushed himself so far away she hadn’t even recognized him, after all.

“What’s wrong?” Ringabel asked from the other side of the screen.

“Nothing!” she called, flushing. He could hear everything she was doing, couldn’t he? Crossing her arms around her chest, she closed her eyes and  _forced_  herself to relax, thinking about the delicious food she was going to eat once they could leave. Strawberry crepes, butterscotch sticky buns, double chocolate cheesecake… a triple layer, ice cream and mousse parfait layered with fresh fruit, whipped cream, and caramel drizzle. She could already taste it, the ice cream thick in her mouth and so sweet, the fruits chewy and the caramel sticking to her teeth. She moaned happily to herself at the thought, wiggling in the tub.

There was a horrible clunking sound from the room as Ringabel dropped the washing basin, spilling wet clothes and the wash water all over. She gasped, half-rising.

“Ringabel?!”

“It’s fine!” he called, his voice squeaking. “I - I tripped, is all! Stay there.”

She had planned to, but he was suspicious. Now she finished washing, running the washcloth over her legs one last time before she stood, letting the warm water drip down her sides. She shivered and reached for the towel that was folded nearby, too cold to remain like this for long. Wrapping the towel securely around her torso, and draping another loosely over her head and shoulders, she glanced around the side of the divider.

Ringabel had attempted to clean up, but she could still see a mess of water and soap on the floor slowly creeping across the room. The man himself was in the kitchen, letting her clothes rinse in the water from the sink as he attempted to mop up the mess. His own clothes were already soaked from chest to toe.

“What happened?” she asked him.

“I told you, I tripped,” he said. His face was red, and he glanced at her for the merest of moments before glancing back down at the mop in his hands.

“You’re so clumsy,” she shook her head as she decided to cross the room to him.  "Here. We’ll trade places. You’re going to get sick if you don’t heat up and dry off soon.“

"I - what?” Ringabel stammered as she approached him. He gaped at her, and she was fully aware of the way his eyes swept over her form. So when she grabbed the mop, she was sure to yank it out from under him, causing him to stumble.

“You heard me,” she said, brandishing the wet part of the mop against his behind, soaking that just as thoroughly as the front of his pants. “Go, get out of my way! Ringabel, you’re hopeless when it comes to housework. Just like a man.”

Using the mop, she shoved and pushed him over to the dividers, careful of the wet floor, and as soon as he batted the mop aside and ducked behind the screen for privacy, she went back to cleaning. What on earth had he done, she wondered as she mopped the best she could, squeezing out the extra water into the nearly empty wash basin. She was going to have to boil more water to clean his clothes that he was dropping over the side of the screen, the garments falling to the floor with a damp splat.

She sighed.

The bath had been nice and she felt clean, if not a little cold, but with this mess, her clothes hadn’t been put to dry yet, and she would have to sit around waiting! And it seemed likely they would now have to wait… sitting… together… Edea threw her clothes over the impromptu clothesline they had made out of some rope and two chairs in the front of the fire, then went to retrieve his clothing to return the favor. Ringabel was splashing around in the basin as he scrubbed.

“Don’t forget behind your ears,” she called to him even as she bent to retrieve his clothes. Jacket, shirt, pants, socks… wait. Edea shook out his pants, confused. Then she checked his shirt. And then his jacket. The only thing there was some stray pg that she liberated for herself.

Where was Ringabel’s underwear? And… why was she actually wanting to find it? Ew! Seriously though. Edea gave the screen a long, suspicious glance before she spoke. “I regret having to even ask this, but where the hell is your underwear?” She hoped he was actually wearing some here.

Ringabel cleared his throat. “I’ll wash them later,” he commented, casually.

Edea let out a growl of frustration. “Ringabel… Ringabel!"  _Why_ didn’t he have a last name she could use against him? "Don’t be difficult. You washed mine! It’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before.” They had all helped with laundry before. She’d washed his drawers more times than she’d like to count.

“I know, but it’s - still! I’ll wash them myself later. It’s unladylike for you to wash a man’s undergarments.”

“That means you won’t be wearing any under your pants later? Absolutely not!” That was pretty gross to think about. Making a face at the divider, she made up her mind.

“I’m coming around.”

“Wait - what? Edea, wait - wait!” His protests could not stop her as she braced herself, half-covered her eyes with her hand, and marched around the open side of the divider.

Ringabel shrieked and covered himself, hunching over in the bath. Edea cackled at his discomfort and yanked his discarded drawers from the floor; he had left them just to the side of the tub. They were already damp from the accident earlier, and she wrapped them up in his pants so she wouldn’t need to continue touching them.

Glancing down at the man who looked as if he wanted to drown himself, she nodded curtly. “I’ll get started on your clothes, then.”

Making sure that the towel wrapped around her was tight, she set to work on driving the dolly stick back and forth and side to side, watching the soap bubbles splash around. This was hard work. They had a little machine in the Grandship that they put their laundry in, but that one could spin just with the turn of a handle, easier but tedious - she thought she hated that but this was far worse!  _This_ required more manual labor than she had expected, and she was panting by the time the water turned a grimy gray.

Mopping her forehead with the towel over her head, she drained out as much of the water as she could, added more, then topped it off with soap crystals and decided to let it soak just as he had, throwing herself in front of the fire to warm. Her skin was dry, but her hair was still wet and she was near-naked, besides.

“I’m letting them soak,” she told Ringabel, hearing him shift around in the tub as he poured water over and over - probably over his hair.

“Very well!” he answered. “I can finish up them up if you need.”

“Don’t tempt me.” When she got back to Eternia she was going to kiss Tiz for doing their laundry most of the time. Even if they had to stay in this cabin for another month, she wasn’t sure she’d repeat this.

By the time she had Ringabel’s clothes finished, nicely rinsed and hanging over the line to dry, he was loudly complaining about the temperature of the water. She had made him stay until he was squeaky clean and soap free, on threat of cutting his hair with her sword.

“You’re free now. Go ahead and get out of there,” she snapped at him as she heard him splash around.

“It’s cold,” he whined.

“Get out here or I’ll make you cold.” What a great threat that was. Edea tugged the towel closer over her shoulders. Her clothes were still damp, but warm when she tested them.

Closing her eyes so that she didn’t see anything inadvertently, she could hear Ringabel as he stood out of the water and sloshed out of it. A pause… he was probably drying down… she was trying not to imagine it, the slide of the towel of his form and - nope. After agonizing long moments, there was the rustle of fabric before his footsteps approached.

She yelped as a blanket fell over her head, flailing to pull it off so that she could breathe.

“Ringabel, what are you - ”

Ringabel flopped onto the couch beside her. His hair clung to his cheeks, framing a wide smile. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and another over his head and shoulders just like she, which meant that most of his chest and stomach were bare and glistening with water droplets. “Didn’t I say earlier? We can huddle under blankets while the clothes dry. As snug as a bug in a rug.”

Oh. Right, he had said that. Not the bug part, but the blanket part. She wrapped it tightly around herself, noting that he had brought his own separate blanket. Good. There was no way she was sharing anything with him when they were half naked.

Turning away from him and his shiny stomach, she stared into the fire burning in the stove nearby. Ringabel was quiet as well now, and they could hear the sound of the fire crackling. For long moments, all that filled the air was the sound of the fire and of the wind outside, the ever present wind. Glancing at their clothing drying nearby, Edea could see steam rising from the garments. Hopefully hers would be dry soon; Ringabel’s thick pants and jacket would take longer, but he would survive.

She did not know how much time passed before Ringabel leaned forward, covered in his blanket from shoulder to knee, to throw another log on the fire.

“Well, my dear. Do you feel better?” he asked when he leaned back. His blanket was snug around his torso.

“I do,” she admitted. Now that she was clean and very warm, the grime was gone and so was the annoyance she’d felt. Not to mention, the clean up had taken some time out of their day. It was better than sitting around doing nothing.

“I’m glad,” he replied, sincerely. “If there’s anything I can do to help you further, you need only let me know. I will do all in my power to grant your requests."

She gave him a look that told him he was being weird again. “We’re stuck in a cabin, there’s no cream to make ice cream, and no ingredients whatsoever for cake! There’s little you can do.” She paused, then continued. “Unless you can dry my clothes off for me?”

“I can, with time.”

Edea swatted him, but she was smiling despite herself. “Okay Mr. Hotshot. Show me what you can do.”

“I beg your pardon?” Ringabel asked, his eyes wide. He glanced over at the line of clothes as she waved her hand at it.

“Dry my clothing,” she told him.

When he looked back at her, he was grinning now. “I said I could dry it with time. And so, give it another hour or so and it will be fine.”

Edea groaned and shoved him through the blankets. Of course! “I’ll hold you to it. If they’re not done in an hour, you owe me.”

“And if they are?” he asked. She gave him an even glare that she hoped told him that he was pressing his luck, but he only hugged his blanket tighter around him. “What do I get if I win?”

Privately, she thought it would be very likely that he won, given how thin her clothing was, and how long it had been drying by the fire. If he won, it would be because he'd cheated! “Hmm,” she pretended to think for a long moment just to make him sweat. “If you win, I'll…”

“A kiss.”

“What?” She stared at him, startled by how forward that was. He seemed just as surprised by what had come out of his mouth, as he sometimes did.

He hastily corrected himself, glancing away. “A date. You said you would consider one earlier, but should your clothes dry in an hour, will you please grant me a date?”

“You really don’t back down, do you?” she asked, shaking her head.

“When it comes to you, no,” Ringabel admitted, and he looked over, their gazes meeting. Edea’s breath caught in her throat as his eyes held hers. Pale, and a rather unusual color, they showed a seriousness she wasn’t sure she had seen before. She worried for a moment she might lose herself in them, and in the emotions she could see swimming in that undefinable color. What could he see in hers?

Edea looked away first, then shoved her shoulder against his. He yelped, rubbing it with his hand.

“Geez, you’re so persistent,” she said again, but there was no real bite to her voice as she leaned against him. Ringabel huffed slightly, but made no move to either push her way or bring her closer. “Fine,” she finally decided. “If my clothes are dry in an hour, you’ll take me on a date. A nice, real date to a restaurant for dinner.”

He was breathless when he replied. Was that a hint of giddiness in his voice?  "Of course. I’ll book the reservation as soon as we’re out of here.“

Edea smiled, ducking her head down against his shoulder so that he couldn’t see the movement of her lips. "Make sure they have a good dessert menu.” She had no idea why she was telling him this, as if he had already won.

“Only the most robust dessert menus will do,” he agreed, and now she could feel him leaning against her in turn. With the thick blankets between them, that was as good as it was going to get. Edea closed her eyes and began to listen to the sound of the fire again.

In this little cabin, surrounded by snow and so far removed from the world in which they had found themselves, time was impossible to tell. Edea - and Alternis - had been trained on how to track the passage of time by the way of the sun, but given that Eternia’s snow clouds often hid the sun behind them, it was still spotty. Still, she kept her eyes on the shadows that moved around the room, even as they dimmed in the light. It had taken them so long to get everything for washing that they had burnt a good part of a day. Eternian days were short; this one was almost over.

Both of them were quiet as the time passed. Edea was not used to such quiet from Ringabel. Immediately, she knew that was unfair to him. Ringabel, even in the early days of their friendship, and the early days of his amnesia, could be quiet at times. It was only around pretty women that his most outlandish words came out, and that meant he often wouldn’t shut up around her or Agnes. But she’d seen him spend hours piloting an airship without a word, or reading through his journal silently when they had some down time. Now, she wondered what he thought.

Oh well, he was probably thinking dirty things, knowing him. With a stretch, she stood up. “Alright, I think it’s been an hour. Let’s see how you did,” she told him as she left the blanket on the couch and went to their ‘clothesline’. With one hand still securely holding the towel in place, the other tested her clothes. Hmm.

“Well? How did I do?” he asked, tilting his head at her as she continued to examine her clothes.

“They’re dry,” Edea replied, running her hands over her tunic again to be sure. They were all dry, and all warm besides. Smiling while her back was turned to him, she tested his clothing while she was standing, even as she let go of her towel to gather up her clothes in her free hand. “Yours are still wet, I’m afraid. Your underwear is dry, though.”

“Is it?” Ringabel’s voice was odd sounding. She turned to look at him, rolling her clothes up into a ball so that she could hold them close - she’d have to go back behind the screen to dress, and wanted that warmth against her in the chilly air!

“Yeah, they’re pretty thin! Your undershirt is almost dry as well, and I think you can probably wear it… what’s wrong?”

His eyes had widened midway through her sentence, and she could see the panic - and the blush - spreading on his face. “Edea, your - ”

Realizing what was happening at the same time that he spoke, Edea scrambled to not drop her clothing but attempt to rescue the towel that was slipping from her chest now. Curse it! She didn’t have a bosom very large, and there was very little actually keeping it up aside from the edge she had tucked under… and then jostled loose as she gathered her clothing against her torso.

Throwing her clothes onto Ringabel, she grabbed the edges of the towel just as they started to slip apart, catching them before they could do more than reveal some of her thighs, which eh, that wouldn’t kill her. He’d seen more of her than that before -  the Bravo Bikini was more revealing than a towel, after all. Not that she wanted to run around in either.

Rolling the edge up and tucking it back under, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then burst into laughter when she looked up at Ringabel. She had not been aiming when she’d tossed her clothes on him, and they had fallen all over his frozen form. Her tunic and leggings were strewn across his lap, her undershirt had fallen over his arm, her bandeau was on his chest, and her panties had, of course, fallen onto his shoulder. She would have been angry were it not for the deep, deep scarlet that his cheeks had turned, visible even through the white cotton.

“See?” she said, teasing him. “Dry.”

Ringabel jolted out of his stupor and raised one shaking hand to pluck her underwear from his shoulder. He stared at them like they might bite him at any moment as he held them out to her, pinched tightly in two fingers. “I see that,” he said, his voice breaking before he cleared his throat. Then he shook his head and gave her a familiar cocky grin. “Throwing your panties down because of me now? Look how far we’ve progressed!”

“You haven’t taken me on that date yet!” Edea growled at him as she snatched her panties from his perverted fingers. Then, she gathered up the rest of her clothing, careful of the pieces that had fallen on his lap. The blanket was too bulky to tell if he’d been affected but then, she didn’t really want to know. “It’s your fault it slipped in the first place.” Before he could question her on that admittedly questionable logic, she continued. “I’m going to get dressed,” she said, and marched off behind the screen to the sound of his laughter.

Once fully dressed, she started cleaning up the rest of their mess. The water that had splashed on the floor now was fully dry, but the tub of water remained. She tried to drag it over to the sink to dump it into the cabin’s basic plumbing, but even her strength was not enough.

“I’ll help,” Ringabel said, startling her. He came around the screen now, dressed in -

“Ringabel,” she gasped, her face growing hot as she straightened up and stared at him, trying to keep her eyes on his face… or at least his shoulders or arms or…

“You said they were dry,” he pointed out, but his own face was red.

“I did,” she conceded, but she hadn’t meant that he could  _wear_ them! Ringabel was now clad in only his underwear. It was a sight almost more offensive than just the towel he had been wearing previously, the black fabric clinging to his hips and his thighs and his…

She looked up into his face. There was a slight, if not uneasy, smile on his face.

“I’ll take one edge of the tub and you take the other,” he suggested, gesturing toward the tub. She turned toward it numbly, then looked back at him and nodded.

“Nudist,” she mumbled as they both took a side of the tub.

“I’m wearing underwear,” he complained. “You’ve seen me in less.”

“W-wha? When?!” She nearly dropped her side of the tub at his comment, gaping at him. She was certain she would remember when he’d been dressed in less than… that! Seeing him, or Tiz, without their shirt was nothing new, but both men were careful about at least keeping their pants on!

Ringabel shifted his grip.. “The towel, remember?”

She scoffed at him. “That hardly counts. And besides, you were covered up more than… this.” Had both of her hands not been preoccupied, she would have gestured at his nearly nude form. “Aren’t you cold?” Glancing at his chest, she saw his nipples were as hard as her own had been earlier. Huh. So guys got stiff in the cold too. How about his…?

No. She would not think about that.

“I’m fine,” he said, as he shivered.

Together the two of them hauled the tub to the sink, and tipped it over, watching the gray water go swirling down into the pipes. Eternian pipes were made to withstand the extreme temperatures of the region, but she hoped they hadn’t leaked with the years. The idea of cleaning up the mess wasn’t appealing.

Ringabel nudged the tub aside with a foot and stretched. “Well, now what do we do?”

He had been aware that bathing and cleaning was just another way to pass the time. He thought about going to the door to check the snow level, but given that he was just wearing his underthings, he wasn’t sure that would be a very good idea. Besides, despite some thinking he bordered on exhibitionist, he wasn’t very comfortable standing around in his underwear while alone with Edea. But, given that  _her_  towel could have very led to his death at her hands, for he knew she would kill him if he saw her nude, he hadn’t wanted to stay in his own towel for much longer.

Shivering slightly in the cool, he considered ducking back into his blanket, but before he could get very far, he yelped - Edea’s hand had touched his arm, startling him. Goosebumps rose, making the very light blonde hair of his arms stand out. She giggled at the sensation as she stroked his skin.

“What is it?” he asked, both curious and embarrassed.

“It feels soft,” she explained. “It’s so light, you can’t usually tell it’s there.” Looking up at his face, for which he was  _extremely_  grateful, her other hand reached up to stroke his cheek. At this, he closed one eye, grimacing slightly as her fingers brushed over his stubble and the ends of his hair.

“I’m awful looking,” he complained, even as she continued to play with the ends of his hair. He tried to shave every day, wore makeup to cover his darkest undereye circles, and thus felt exposed to be so unkempt in her company. And his hair! Gone was his perfectly styled pompadour. Now his locks were limp, and they curled slightly at the ends, long enough to brush his shoulder.  He was certain he looked terribly plain and not the sort of man she’d be even remotely interested in.

“I like your hair when it’s down,” she said, startling him. Her fingers slipped back to the hair at the nape of his neck, and he leaned forward - only to give her a better reach, he told himself. She continued to pet him as though he were a housecat, ruffling his hair. Smiling slightly, he let her play with his hair - she always liked to play with Agnes’ - and closed his eyes as now she added her nails to his scalp.  _That_  felt good, in a very pleasant and warming way. Continuing to lean forward, he closed the distance between them, pressing his forehead to her shoulder.

Edea was tugging his hair into demented pigtails; he was very thankful that they didn’t have any rubber bands on hand, as she had in the past when they were children. “Why don’t you wear it down more often?” she asked.

“I have to keep up appearances,” he murmured, wincing as she pulled a tuft of hair a tad too harshly. “What good am I if I don’t have my looks?” Sure, he was a Dark Knight as well. He was skilled with a sword, good at tactics, a fantastic pilot, and a seducer of women the world over. He needed his looks for that last one, and it certainly didn’t hurt his other skills. Besides, they had been all he had when he’d woken in Caldisla as an empty shell, aside from his journal. They had served him well.

“You’re plenty good without your looks,” she assured him, and now he thought she might be braiding his hair. “You’re a good pilot, and you’re strong, and you’re not so bad when you don’t prattle on like a fool.”

“Women like my foolish prattling,” he complained, turning his cheek into her shoulder so that he could give her a pout. “They think it’s cute.”

“Well, it has its uses, but  _I_ think that I like you more when you use your brain, Ringabel. It’s there for a reason, and you and I both know it’s not as empty anymore as you pretend it is.” She glared at him, a bit annoyed, and tugged his hair.

Ringabel stared at her. “You… what?”

Edea seemed to realize that she had said and flushed now, stepping back and pushing him away in the same motion. He straightened, his back thankful for the action, and looked down at her, bewildered. He truly wished he wore more than a pair of hastily washed underwear in this moment, but didn’t dare glance toward where his clothes were drying by the fire.

“You’re more useful when you think, that’s all,” she said, and looked as though she would continue, except… now she had turned back to the stove to light it for dinner. “Ringabel, go sit down and get under something before you catch cold.”

He hesitated.

Ringabel knew he  _should_  leave her to the stove and go back toward the warm blankets to wait for his pants to dry. He was certain his undershirt was finished by now.  That at least would give him additional protection against the chill in the air at the edges of the cabin. But at the same time, Edea had given him more warmth in these past few moments than any number of layers could ever do. He bit his lip, then pushed his luck.

Placing a hand on her arm, he waited until she looked up at him before he spoke. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes not quite meeting his. “You keep me warm,” he said. “So long as I am by your side, Edea, I will never be cold.”

“That’d be more convincing if you weren’t shivering,” she said, but her eyes softened. “Just go.”

“Will you join me? I’ll be warmer with the two of us,” he insisted. “You know the basics of hypothermia prevention as well as I do. Body heat is the best.”

“You’re not getting hypothermia,” she argued, but when he gave her a pleading look, she acquiesced, turning the stove down low and setting the wooden spoon aside. “Alright, you pervert. Just until your pants dry,” she said as she pushed him to the couch. He laughed at the initial shove, but he quickly choked when her hand pushed against the tender spots in his rib cage.

“Why is your skin so nice? It looks almost as good as mine.” Edea grumbled once the two of them were under the blankets again. Ringabel found that in his absence, they had grown cold, and so he was huddled close to Edea even as he squirmed his undershirt back on. That was nice and toasty, at least.

“What do you mean?” he asked once his shirt was fully on again. Edea at this point leaned against his shoulder. He felt much better to be more clothed, though he wasn’t sure he would ever back get to the point that he had as Alternis, feeling naked without his armor!

“I always thought you would be… I don’t know, battle scarred. Covered with them, like Father, or even Master. Or Heinkel and Barras. Maybe even Barbarossa, with a peg leg.”

Oh. That had never even occurred to him, though it ought to have. He lifted an arm to examine it, running his fingers against the smooth skin of his inner forearm. Neither his arms nor his legs showed the silvery-beige marks of old scars, though here and there were the faded red stripes that spoke of newer wounds that would never fully heal over. Those he had acquired on his journey with his friends, and those were not as bad as they could have been with White Magic at their disposal.

“It was the magma of Mount Karka,” he said, remembering. His memories were like memories of an old play, as though he were separated from them. Even now, he remembered bits and pieces at odd times; he doubted he would ever be as whole as he had been once, those days before approaching the Holy Pillar in the world of his birth. “When I fell in the magma, I didn’t die. My armor kept me alive, but at the same time, I was burned all over. I’m not sure how I survived, honestly.” The pain had been horrendous, made even worse by the torture that Qada had put him through. Honestly, he was very glad that his memories of that time were still faded, but he wasn’t sure how he’d survived to get Qada in the first place.

“Oh,” the girl said, staring at her hands before she looked back up at him, her blue eyes earnest. “Ringabel, you don’t - ”

“It’s alright,” he assured her. “The pain is in the past. In any case, I had to regrow new skin in my weeks in the White Magic chamber. It stands to reason that this new skin wouldn’t have any scars on it. And isn’t that a good thing?”

“Why?”

“It means I am just that more handsome, of course!”

She smacked him. “Don’t joke about that sort of thing, Ringabel. Nobody wanted you to be in such pain. Not Father, not myself, not anyone.”

Qada and Victor probably didn’t mind, he added quietly to himself, but he smiled warmly at her instead. “I know. And it is because of you that I was able to hold on during that time.” Thinking of those that he wanted to protect, that he wanted to save had been his lifeline when all he’d wanted to do was close his eyes and let the pain fade away forever. That, and spite and the need for revenge on his enemies. Whatever had worked in the moment.

She was leaning against his side now, wonderfully warm. He shifted so that he could drag one of his pale legs up on the couch and turn toward her, draping an arm casually over her shoulder. Casually. “Because of the Edea in your world, you mean,” she said softly, so quietly he almost didn’t hear her at first.

But when he did, his stomach dropped. Yes, she was not wrong. The Edea of his world, that bright light in his dim life, the light that had been snuffed out so cruelly, she had been the light that kept him going. Even now, he did not wish to dwell on her terrible last moments. He did not want to think about how horribly he failed at her. With a sigh, Ringabel squeezed Edea. “She was who I thought of, yes,” he admitted. “I worried for her. I wanted to fly to her side and convince her to see reason.”

With a start, he realized the pitch of his voice was lowering, and he quickly raised it, forcing the usual inflection of his words through. “If I had known you at the time, I would have thought of you, of course! To fight at your side and see that beautiful smile of yours.”

She pulled away from him and he could barely pout before she had turned toward him with a glare. “You are incorrigible,” she told him, her chin high. “You can’t love both of us.”

Any pout he’d had faded. Any smile he might have flashed her died. And the feeling of happiness in his chest at having her close was dimming. “Do you truly think that?” he asked her, frowning.

Even Alternis would not plan for such a heartfelt conversation in these circumstances, he thought as Edea pressed her hands to his bare chest, almost as if to shove him. He had better timing sense than this.

Edea shook her head, looking down. “How can you claim to have feelings for me when you had her?”

He lifted his hands to wrap around her wrists, holding them gently. “Because I do.” When she looked up at his face, their eyes met.

When he had known nothing else, not his name, not his age, not even his own origin, he had known that simple fact. He loved her. And while his initial infatuation may have been due to a woman he would never in his life see alive again, his heart had remembered what his mind had not, and had forged a new love.

“Edea,” he said gently when she looked away. “Do you think your father loves you any less because he also loves Alternis?” The words were shock to him as he spoke - Braev did love Alternis as a son, even if he had never noticed before. Braev had been terrible at showing affection to Alternis, but Ringabel had realized on this journey that the man he had once idolized was also terrible at showing affection to his daughter.

“Of course not,” Edea replied, looking at him as though he were crazy. “But he’s a father; I think he’s legally required to love all of his children equally, even terrible ones like Victoria.”

His mother hadn’t loved him, he thought before harshly squashing the thought down; this wasn’t the time for that. She wasn’t getting it, so he tried another angle. “Alright then, do you think that because I love Agnes - as a friend - that I can’t love Tiz -  _AS A FRIEND_ \- either? Love is not a finite source, dearest, and it exists in so many ways. I… I love you, too!” he practically shouted.

His cheeks were heating up, scorching even in the heat of the fire. If he had to confess his love, what better place than beside a fire, in a little cabin off in the woods, where they could not be interrupted? … if only he were wearing actual clothing, he would have liked that. He held his breath as he waited for her to respond. If he were lucky, she would throw herself on him with a cry of happiness, and then he would twirl around and the sheer joy would melt the snow outside, and then they could live happily ever after.

“As a friend?” Edea asked, and he almost despaired that she  _still_  wasn’t getting it when he saw the little smile on her face, half-hidden behind her hair.

“Edea,” he whined, trying not to sound too unmanly. He was fidgeting with stress now. “You know that isn’t true!”

She gave him an even look. “I know,” was all she said, before she looked away, her eyes distant as she thought.

Alternis levels of impatience were building in him. He bit his lip. She never liked people who were demanding, and she liked her space, and she wouldn’t like him to be clingy, but he wanted to beg her to reply. Before he could die of anxiety, she spoke, staring off into the fire.

“You know, Ringabel, being stuck with you these past few days in this cabin has been a new experience,” she said diplomatically.

What did that mean? He tilted his head at her. “It… has been, hasn’t it?” Normally when they traveled, even if they were sharing a room in a small country inn, they shared with Agnes, Tiz, and Airy. Never before had they had they been alone in such a small space, and given that they were snowed in, each other’s presence had been all they’d had. Dread suddenly gripped him. Had she hated it the entire time?

“Yes,” she replied, then noticed how pale he’d gotten. “Oh, don’t look like that. I’m just saying that… it was nice.”

“Oh.” He could breathe easy then, except she still hadn’t acknowledged his heartfelt confession of love. Perhaps she truly thought he held only platonic feelings for her, as he did for Tiz and Agnes?

Edea turned to him. “You need to work on your timing,” she reprimanded him. He leaned back from her accusatory finger, feeling his heart drop. “You have to give someone a way out of your confession! Don’t say such things when we’re locked away in a cabin and neither of us can leave.”

“Oh, right,” he said, as though it hadn’t occurred to him. Because it hadn’t. He didn’t think about his feelings, and had enjoyed being so near her that he’d forgotten that they might need space. As it was, he wanted to crawl into bed and hide away from the world in his embarrassment. At least they weren’t on an airship thousands of feet in the air.

She grumbled, her cheeks red and mumbled to herself, “'Oh right’, he says. What use is that brain of his sometimes? Honestly!”

He pouted at her. “I can hear you.” Now he really wanted to go crawl into the bed and hide. She didn’t have to rub it in!

Edea looked at him sharply, then softened. “That’s mean of me. I’m sorry. But Ringabel, why can’t you tell me these things in a normal place?”

A… normal place? What was that? “I thought - there’s no one around, and…”

“There’s no one around,” she repeated. “And… we’ve been alone for the past couple of days, sleeping in the same bed, and I’ve now seen more of you than I would ever like to. Tell me again when we’re out.”

“It won’t change my feelings,” he pointed out, feeling a bit put out. If this was a rejection, he wanted to get it over and done with!

“I know,” she replied “But I’ll feel better replying to you when we’re not alone.”

Feel better? He stared at her. “What’s wrong?”

Edea didn’t answer him at first. Instead, she looked over into the fire. After a moment, she stood and tested his pants and jacket. It was only then that she replied, her fingers running over the thick fur on his collar. “We’re alone. Who knows what could happen?”

Was… that it? Ringabel stared at her, then stood and came up to her side. He reached out to touch his clothes as well, cover her hand with his own. The fur was dried, and so was the leather, but he doubted the lining was. They probably shouldn’t have washed it to begin with. “Nothing has to happen. Nothing has to change,” he assured her. “My feelings will stay the same.”

She leaned her head back against his bare shoulder and her hair tickled his arm. “Aren’t mine important, too?”

“Of course!” he replied. Her feelings were most important! When he opened his mouth to tell her this, and to insist that all would be fine, he cut himself off with a croak - Edea had turned around and wrapped her arms around him.

“So tell me again when we’re out of here,” the girl whispered. “But not in public, or in the middle of a fight, or when I’m eating…”

“Alright,” he agreed, carefully placing his hands on her shoulders. He could do that. She clearly was uncomfortable thinking about feelings when there was nothing else to distract her, but she hadn’t rejected him. He would take that for what it was worth. “I will.”

Because his pants and jacket were still slightly damp, though warm, they left the fire alone so that they could finish tidying up before eating. They had left their food on the stove to stay warm, and so they only needed to turn up the heat of the fire and add more water to replace what had cooked off. Already, the short Eternian day was passing them by, but he found he didn’t mind.

While he was in the kitchen, Edea went to the back door to open it, revealing snow that was at her chin height. Despite his proximity to the heat of the stove, he still shivered at the cool air that drifted over him.

“Another day and I think we’ll be able to dig ourselves out,” he commented. They didn’t have many tools in the cabin, but they could make do or get creative with their weapons. If the snow got down to his waist, he thought they’d be fine - Edea could stay in the path he made. Too high against his chest would make it far too easy for his torso to be chilled, which could be dangerous.

“Do you think we’ll survive? Or will we kill each other with cabin fever?” she asked as she shut the door and latched it.

Ringabel laughed as he added some more meat into the stew. Most of the earlier pieces had been eaten already, and he was peckish from his small breakfast. “If we haven’t yet, I’m sure we’ll be fine for another day. Just be gentle with me.”

After dinner, where even Edea ate only one bowl of the lentil stew, Ringabel returned to his clothes and lifted them off the clothesline. “I’ll leave them on the table,” he explained, shaking out his jacket and turning it inside out. The lining was almost dry, but freezing, and he didn’t look forward to putting it back on. His pants were dry by now, but given how they would be going to bed shortly, and it was too warm in the bed with his pants on, he was hesitant to put them on if he was just going to have to take them back off.

He could just huddle under his blanket instead, he decided as he laid his clothing out on the table. With the chair back where it belonged, there was nothing standing between the fire and the couch.

Edea was already lounging on the couch. He joined her, wrapping himself up in a blanket before hesitating for a moment. Would she accept if he offered a part of it to her…? Taking the chance, he lifted one edge of the blanket to her. “Do you want under?” he asked, smiling. Even if he was in his underthings, at least it would be warm.

She eyed him for a moment before nodding and slipping under the edge of the blanket that he offered her.

“You’re warm,” she said, snuggling into his side. Her arm snaked around his waist. After another moment’s hesitation, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder in return.

“Of course I am. It is my passionate heart and the love I have for you that keeps me burning bright!” She hadn’t rejected him, hadn’t said no. His heart felt lighter for it, and the words came easily.

Edea laughed. “How do you come up with these things? Just… how? I have to admire it.”

“It comes naturally,” he boasted, flipping his hand. “Just like the sun shines down its beautiful light to warm our hearts, so too do I warm the hearts of women worldwide.”

She squeezed his waist. “All women?”

He quickly knew what she meant, and felt a bit chastened. “All women are deserving of praise and a kind word, from the smallest girl to the oldest lady,” he said evenly. “Fear not, dearest Edea. Though my words may be for others, my heart is yours alone.”

“Hmm,” was all she said as she laid her head against his shoulder. “You’re not going to ask me to marry you, are you?”

“Do you want me to?” he asked instead of answering her.

Edea shuddered. “Please don’t ask me that. I’m far too young to think about things like marriage and settling down… children and homemaking! I’ve too much to do for Eternia first.”

“Point taken,” he said, because he knew he would be at her side. As the Dark Knight of Eternia, and hopefully… well, he’d think about it later. For now, he wanted to focus on the feeling of Edea in his arms. As the night grew cold and the cabin more chilly, it made the fire all that more comforting. Turning slightly, he managed to wrap both of his arms around her and hold her tight. The girl squirmed only slightly as she found a comfortable resting place against him, and then she stilled.

His eyelids felt heavy… he was so in the habit of taking naps that his body protested being awake in the afternoon. Boredom also dug at him. Now that the excitement of bathing and drying clothing was over, there was nothing else to do. His journal seemed boring to him for once. Staring at the ceiling and counting the knots in the word seemed terribly tedious (he’d lost count at fifty three the previous day). As much as he didn’t like going to bed so early, he also knew that the sooner they slept, the sooner they woke up. As a child, he had once thought he was some sort of time traveler, when he’d gone to sleep in the family library and woken up tucked in his bed the next morning. Now, he knew the fastest and easiest way to bring the new day was to just sleep. And it sounded wonderful. He kept that thought in his mind as time went by.

“I’m going to bed,” he murmured into Edea’s hair once the light outside had faded completely. The girl shifted, making a noise not unlike that of a very comfortable cat.

“Mm, already?” she asked, rubbing her face. “It’s evening, Ringabel.”

“Well, a nap at least,” he decided. If he woke up in the night, which he probably would, he could drink some coffee and have some time to himself. They hadn’t had any privacy in this place, and he would like some time alone. She needed it too. “You stay here and stay warm,” he told her, punctuating his words with a kiss to the top of her head.

If she noticed, she said nothing. “It’ll be warmer with you,” Edea said after a moment, leaning back and stretching with a loud noise. “I’ll take a nap as well. The bed?”

He quietly despaired before shoving that aside. While he would never turn down an opportunity to spend time with her, the thought of some time alone, with Edea asleep, had been a nice thought while he’d had it. Well, he slept less than she did. If he was lucky, she would sleep through the night without him. “Very well,” he nodded, and he took the blanket with him as they relocated to the bed.

Though it was dark outside with the sun gone, they used only the light of the fire to guide them, rather than use a lamp. Ringabel spread the blanket out over the bed as Edea undressed, stripping down to her bandeau and leggings.

“It gets too warm in there,” she reminded him as he stared at her, then looked away, flushing. “Keep your hands to yourself, but I’d rather not sweat through my clean clothes.”

“You’re right,” he said, chastising himself for the desire that had spiked in him at the sight of her bare skin. They were sharing a bed for survival to begin with, and nothing more. He tried to remind himself of that again as they both slid under blankets that were still warm from their time on the couch.

Rolling over to his side to face away from her, he closed his eyes and tried to relax. Behind him, he could feel Edea rolling around until she too, was comfortable. He smiled when she murmured a good night to him, and gave his own just as quiet reply.

And then he slept.

Or at least he tried to. The arousal that had sparked in him at the sight of Edea’s bare shoulders and arms wasn’t abating. It was the opposite, in fact, his dick hardening in his drawers as he listened to the sound of the woman’s breathing. This was why he desperately needed some time alone. Shifting uncomfortably, he crossed his arms in front of him, then let one of his hands wander down until he could touch himself through the cotton fabric. He prayed Edea wouldn’t notice the covers moving.

When he ghosted his fingers along his clothed shaft, he had to bit his lip to keep from gasping. It felt good, wonderfully so, and he knew most of that pleasure was simply because he had neglected himself for some days now. After yesterday’s disastrous incident, his body was owed some relief.

But even he had morals, as desperate as he felt right now. Edea was just inches away, under the same blanket, and - he couldn’t do this with her so close. He needed to either stop or go to the bathroom.

… bathroom it was.

Quietly, so as to not disturb her, Ringabel shifted under the blankets once more - than yelped as Edea’s arm wrapped around him from behind.

“E-Edea?!” he gasped, feeling a chill followed quickly by a rush of heat run through his entire body. “What are you doing?” His voice was squeaking as he squirmed. Edea latched onto him tighter, growling out her disapproval that he was so wiggly. He was sure that his blood pressure was rising in conjunction with something else.

“It’ll be too hot later,” the woman complained. “But I’m cold now. Stay still, Ringabel. You’re the right level of warm.”

His pulse was hammering so hard that he wondered if she could feel it. Surely she could feel the heat that was spreading down his neck - well, she had said that he was warm, after all. Trying not to whine as Edea pressed to his back, her cheek nudging his shoulder, he tried to calm himself down. The pounding of his heart as it was wasn’t helping the situation in his drawers. Neither was the feeling of the woman’s breasts squeezing against him; he shifted slightly onto his belly.

It should have been a laughable situation. She was so much smaller than he that he imagined to an onlooker, it would have seen bizarre to say the least. Edea was not a very effective big spoon, her legs fitting awkwardly against his own, and her arms just a little too short to fit all the way around his torso. He tried not to whine as she noticed and practically crawled up on his form so their heads could be level, her knees hitting the back of his thighs.

“Wouldn't… this work better the other way around?” he gasped as, when she grasped his shirt for better leverage, her nails scratched his chest through the thin fabric. No, wait! What was he  _thinking_ , suggesting cradling her when his cock was stiffening at the sensation of her body against his?! Traitorous thing, it clearly had something out for him!

“Yeah right,” she muttered into his ear. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll just have to deal with you know what again.”

“Noooo,” he wailed under his breath. It was true; she would have to deal with it much sooner if he spooned her. Then he yelped again, because she put her elbow right on his hair.

“Whatever you say,” she replied flippantly as she lifted a hand up to pull her own hair away from her neck. “No offense Ringabel. It’s just… you know.”

“None taken,” he murmured as he contemplated rolling over onto his stomach. Surely that would be safest. But before he could, Edea’s arm had once again latched around his stomach and the girl was getting a grip.

And if there was anything he knew about Edea, it was that she had a strong one.

“Mmm, better,” she said as she wiggled against his back. He sighed. She was soft and warm against his back, the same way she had felt that very morning. And now, just like then, he wanted to hold her closer, if it weren’t for a certain part of him that would get between them.

Edea hummed as she settled down for sleep. “Alright, you go to sleep now,” she decided, nodding against his hair. He lifted his hands to touch her arm.

He would have liked to, truly, except even when he closed his eyes and attempted to will himself to bed, his body ached with need. His manhood was positively pulsing with Edea’s form so close by, and it was more than a little distracting, despite how often he thought about Qada parading around in a bikini. After several long, long moments of lying there in agony, he squirmed.

“I need to use the… the powder room,” he whispered. Was Edea even awake?

Judging by the annoyed huff against his hair… yes. “Why didn’t you go before we got in bed?” she grumbled. “I’m already warm. Just… go to bed. You can go later.”

He wanted to whine. And so he did, squirming even more. “Edeaaaa, I really need to go.”

Instead of freeing him, she slung a leg over his hip. He whimpered and resisted the urge to roll over to press his hips against the mattress. She was dangerously close to his hardness. “You’ll just make it all cold,” she complained as she started wiggling. “And then we’ll have to get comfy again, and…! Oh!”

Edea, in her wiggling and annoyance, meant to slap his leg. She had missed, as he had started to roll back to complain and push at her. Her palm had smacked against the side of his hardness instead. Ringabel gasped at the sensation, a confusing combination of pain and pleasure coursing through him. He bit his lip.

There was deafening silence for a moment.

“That wasn’t your leg, was it?” Edea asked.

“No,” Ringabel managed to croak, feeling his pulse hammer in his chest. She was going to kill him, even if she had not taken her sword to bed. He was certain she could summon it to her side using the sheer force of her will.

Edea shoved his shoulder and started the process of untangling their limbs. “You’re a pervert!”

“I am not,” he insisted, wanting to crawl into the cellar and die. Actually, spending the night there sounded splendid; he would be too cold to get hard even if he survived the night. He managed to get his feet out of the blankets. “It just does this on its own.”

“You’re not asleep,” she pointed out. “It’s in your control. Pervert.”

He stopped wriggling out from under the thick bedcovers, confusion overtaking mortification for a moment. “No,” he replied, when he thought he could. The urge to defend himself was stronger than self-preservation. “Even when I wake up, it just - it has a mind of its own, truly! Do you honestly think I would choose to be like… this when I’m lying next to you?” He gestured his hand downward, vaguely in the direction of the object in question. He had morals! And fear. He had been terrified of Edea finding out about it - like she just had - and deciding to do something awful to that very sensitive part of him. He liked his penis, and wanted to keep it intact for his future children.

“Yes,” she replied without hesitation as she finally slid over to the other side, propping herself up on an elbow. Now that they were separated, he could sit up on the edge of the bed and look at her. “Why not?”

“Why… not?” he echoed. His ears and cheeks were both burning. He needed to throw himself out the back door to cool off. “It hurts, for one. Even when you don’t hit it.”

Her expression shifted ever so slightly. “You deserved it. But hurts?”

“Not  - not like a wound, or when I’m using my asterisk,” he clarified, watching her eyebrows snap together when he mentioned the Dark Knight Asterisk. Something told him that they would be having a conversation about  _that_  little confession later. “It just… ”

“Hurts.”

“Listen, Edea,” he pleaded. “Please, allow me to use the restroom. By the time I return, it won’t matter anymore. We’ll sleep.”

“Oh, that’s why you wanted to go. To do what guys do in their alone time.” Despite her flippant words, she ducked her head down to her chest as red bloomed across her face.

“How do you know about that?” he demanded, heat rising in his cheeks. Who had told his Angel about what men did with their manhoods when alone?! He would find them, and he would make them pay.

Edea lifted her head just so she could roll her eyes at him. “It’s not some state secret, Ringabel. Everyone knows about it. Well… if it hurts, hurry up. You’re getting cold air in the bed.”

“I…” He was still hard, despite exposure to the cold air, and if he took care of himself now, it may even help him sleep. “Fine,” he decided. Since she had given him permission. Given him permission, like he needed it!

He hurried away across the room to the restroom door, both because it was cold, but also because he was aware that her eyes were on him and on the bulge in the front of his drawers, highly visible even in the dim light now that their eyes had adjusted and the fabric covering it was so thin.

As soon as the door was closed firmly behind him, he leaned against the cool wood and wasted no time in shoving the waistband of his drawers down his hips only enough so that his half-hard erection eagerly sprung out.

“Traitor,” Ringabel muttered to it even as he took himself firmly in hand. At least they had both survived this ordeal, he thought. He had been worried they would be parted for good for a moment there. With quick, light strokes, he built himself up to full hardness, biting his lip as pleasure began to coil in him. Heat was building in his core, along with his cheeks, as he recalled that Edea was just on the other side of the old wood, and would hear him if he was too loud. Edea…

He closed his eyes and remembered the feeling of her soft breasts against his back; he squeezed his cock at the memory. She was so petite, but had still felt good, and he thought he’d felt her nipples through the fabric of her bandeau, stiff from the cold perhaps? As his hand increased in pace, his mind wandered back to what he’d heard when he had been washing her clothes. He had almost missed it; Edea moaning while in the bath. What had she truly been doing? Now, like then, he immediately imagined her touching herself, her fingers sliding over that creamy skin he ached to touch. His breath quickened at the image in his mind, his tongue ghosting over dried lips as he sped up his strokes. The touch around his cock was dry, but hot, and there was just the right amount of friction to add to his pleasure, not take away from it.

But then, he was suspecting he didn’t mind the pain at all. When Edea had slapped his cock, he’d felt a burst of heat and pleasure in his shaft, along with the pain. He hadn’t minded it. He almost wanted to feel it again. Almost, because his cock was aching for release now, and he twisted his wrist, tightened his grip as he continued to jerk himself. It was fine now; precome oozing from the top and helping to lubricate his pumping motions. He hadn’t touched himself in days. He needed this.

He managed to swallow back the moan that burst from deep in his chest, holding his breath as he finally hit his climax, leaning back against the door for stability. His come shot out of him in spurts, hastily caught in his free hand as he milked himself of his release. That was more like it, he thought as he felt a familiar, comforting haze spread through him, warming him despite the chill in the air. The post orgasmic feeling would make it easier to sleep now.

He used a damp wash cloth to clean both his spent cock and his hands, then tucked his cock back into his drawers before washing his hands more thoroughly. Only once he was sure he was clean and no trace remained that he would take back to bed, he slipped out of the tiny room. Edea was an unmoving lump on the bed just a few steps away, her blonde hair strewn across …

She’d stolen all the blankets, including the one they used as a pillow. Only the tiniest sliver of edge was available for him.

Despite himself he smiled as he crossed the distance to the bed. Tugging the covers up only enough to get underneath, he attempted to crawl back in, tugging at the edge to cover himself.

“I hope you washed your hands,” Edea murmured, though she didn’t roll over to face him.

“Of course I did,” he insisted, flushing. He hadn’t expected her to be awake… and did not expect her to move back over into his space, the girl rolling to sling an arm around his waist and draping the blankets over him along with her arm.

“Good,” she replied, her eyes still closed. “Now gimme that cookie there…”

“What cookie?”

“There,” Edea insisted, frowning in her half-sleep state. “I want that one. It’s chocolate chip.”

She was adorable, he thought fondly to himself. Hoping she wouldn’t open her eyes to the silly grin on his face - and banishing all dirty thoughts from his mind - he gave her the edge of a blanket to chew on. Snuggling into his shoulder, she chewed noisily even as she dropped into heavier sleep. Ringabel wrapped a cautious arm around her as he held her close, feeling her form shift against his. His earlier contentment was still present, and he felt himself dropping off quickly, surrounded by warmth.


	4. Day 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do we stay warm when we only have each other?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's smut.

Hours later, Ringabel jerked awake to heat in his stomach and a weight across his chest. His hips bucked in response to the tightness of his drawers and he opened one eye to figure out what he was under and _why_  his temple and ear were disgustingly wet. Was the ceiling leaking? That was the last thing they … he gasped.

Edea's hair draped across his face, tickling his nose and cheeks. Her mouth was wet and against his ear as she half-suckled, half-nibbled on it, murmuring in her sleep.

He groaned, not out of pleasure, but because he knew she had to be dreaming of delectable desserts, and any moment now she would bite him. Not a way to start his morning! He squirmed, trying to push her off.

In response, her tongue curled around his earring and tugged. Now, a sensation of both pleasure and worry fluttered through him. If Edea got his earring off, she could easily choke on it. And then he would lose it, and he would rather not that, not even for her. Not to mention it was dangerous for her.

"Edea," he mumbled quietly, tilting his head away from her ear. She growled slightly under her breath and wriggled against him, her thigh pressing uncomfortably close to certain parts of his body. "Edea, dear. It's time to wake up."

That part, he wasn't sure about, because the cabin was still dark and what he could see of the sky outside was still a deep blue. But it was time for _her_  to wake up, at least.

"Mmm…Ringabel ," she murmured, her hands grasping at his chest and nearly tugging his shirt off. Panic blanked his mind for a moment. "I'm hungry."

He pushed at her arms, trying to wiggle out from under her in the same motion. Was this his punishment for reminding her of rations? She was going to eat him alive, as he had always feared. He was too young to die in such a gruesome way, languishing in Edea's belly.

Edea groaned, her eyes squinching in her sleep. "No, not that. I want ice cream." She growled, then went limp above him. Ringabel managed to slip a leg between hers and got enough leverage that he could roll them over, trapping the girl against the bed. He wasn't sure what she was thinking, or dreaming, but he needed a way to wake her up that wasn't going to get him killed or worse, eaten.

She was quiet now though, and he cautiously relaxed his grip on her, leaning back on his heels. He was fully awake now, and doubted he would be able to get back to sleep, not with Edea still completely out to the world. Who knew what she might do to him?!

As he bit his lip, wondering if she would mind terribly if he slept on the couch, she stirred underneath him.

"Ringabel," she breathed, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Y-yes?" he said, still unsure as to whether she was - oh, who was he kidding. She was asleep, because otherwise she would have punched him for looming over her prone form in such a way.

"M' cold," she mumbled, curling into herself. "Hungry."

He took a deep breath, then grabbed her by the shoulders and rolled her over to her stomach. She went easily enough, grasping at the blankets and mouing softly. "Here you are, dear... a… a giant crepe," he told her. That sounded about right. Crepes had long sheets of dough, yes? He'd seen the girls devour them enough that he should know. "Isn't it delicious? Hold it tight, now!""

He could just barely see the adorable little smile on her face. "Mmhmm," she mumbled, and nibbled at the edge of the blanket that they used as a pillow.

Once she was facing away from him, he felt a little more safe to curl up behind her, wrapping his arms securely around her form, and trapping her arms against her chest. She squirmed against him, clearly not happy by the restriction, but he held fast, hooking one of his legs over hers. After a few tense moments, she settled down, resigned to her fate. He resigned himself to his own, though he wondered what her dream was like for her to accept it.

She settled back against him, sighing as she went back to sleep, sans any sort of food. Still, despite the stillness of the woman in his arms, Ringabel's mind was racing. Now that he was very thoroughly awake, he could not be going back to sleep anytime soon… risk her waking up and crawling on him again? No!

Not to mention a certain part of him had also awoken when Edea had crawled over him, and it didn't seem keen to let him relax. He couldn't let down his guard in regards to it, or to the girl who had once again begun to squirm slightly in his arms, reaching out for a pastry just out of reach.

He sighed, and buried his face into Edea's hair. It was going to be a long, long night.

Years passed, or they felt like it, and finally light began to shine through the windows. Ringabel yawned again, wondering when Edea would wake so that he could take a nap. He didn't dare rest while she was asleep, not if she was going to try and eat him again.

His eyes felt so heavy and painful. Normally when he was staying awake overnight to fly, or to work on other things, he had thoughts to occupy his mind. Happy thoughts, either of his current project or of his favorite subject - girls. Pretty girls in bikinis or short skirts. Except, that was not something he could think about now; it would only make his current situation worse. Instead, he'd taken to thinking about past sparring sessions he'd had with Tiz, or Barras, or even Kamiizumi, when he had been newly initiated into the army. Anything that would keep him awake without exciting him any further.

Edea had been still for quite some time now. She had ceased wriggling around, but he wasn't taking any chances, not when she still occasionally called out for cake or ice cream, naming flavors he hadn't even been aware existed.

When he felt her stir again, he prepared for the worst, tightening his grip around her. She'd tried to suplex him out of the bed just a couple of hours ago, and now he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Mmm," Edea said, lifting a hand to touch his arm. "What are you doing, Ringabel?" She sounded as stern as ever, if not sleepy.

He let her go, just slightly, though he kept his arm around her waist. Just in case.

"Good morning," he said, grimacing at the roughness in his voice. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" She'd better have. At least one of them needed a good night's sleep.

"I had some really weird dreams," she replied slowly, the sleepiness still present in her voice. "They were nice, though."

They were still very close, close enough that he could feel her arm now moving up so that she could rub her eye. He watched her for a long moment, but when she shifted against him, he startled out of his sleepy-daze.

"Tell me about them," he offered, trying to stifle a yawn.

To his surprise, Edea rolled over, grumbling a little. "Wasn't I the big spoon last night?" she asked, even as she settled down again on her side, facing him. His arm, already rather numb from Edea laying on it all night, tingled with pain as it awoke slightly, only to be harshly squashed down when she nestled her head against his shoulder.

Ringabel had to swallow thickly before he could reply, even as he wondered if she could feel the pounding of his heart in his throat. "Were you really? I don't recall."

"Mmm."

"Your dream," he said again, hoping to distract her from anything going on below his belt. She was so warm and so soft, and she was now slinging an arm around his waist so that she could press against him, and he could feel her…

"I was on Candy Mountain in Ice Cream Land," she said dreamily. He inhaled sharply, not because of her words, but because she was tracing a finger in patterns against his hip. He tried to focus on it, to figure out what it was, rather than think about the growing tightness in his pants.

"Candy Mountain?" he managed to squeak out. "Then… then what happened?"

She nestled her head against his shoulder. "Then in the distance I saw the most beautiful sight. A mountain taller than even Eternia's mountains, covered with scoops of ice cream, and whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle! So of course, I had to check it out."

"Of course."

Her hand was now edging closer to his leg. He tried not to squirm or alert her to anything going on down there.

"Of course! So I did, you know. I flew - yes flew - across to the ice cream mountains and started to eat them. It was so good and tasty, though a little weird. And then, just as I was finished up with one mountain, I tried to go to the next and - a crepe fell on me."

"A crepe?" he asked, his voice cracking. "Interesting!"

"Yes," she replied, sighing. She stopped tracing patterns on his leg and he sighed softly in relief, biting his lip as her hand trailed back up to his hip. "A crepe… at first I thought it was also for dessert, but when I tried to eat it, it wrapped me up and told me that for crimes against ice cream-anity, I would be imprisoned. I was trapped next to Ice Cream Mountain and couldn't escape at all."

And that had been when he'd made her settle down for the night. "I'm sorry. That sounds horrendous."

"It was," she said, and yawned. "No matter what I did… I couldn't reach it. Grr, Ringabel you need to take me out for ice cream on our date."

Despite his tiredness, and the awkwardness that he felt, he smiled. She remembered the date and even wanted it?!  "Of course," he assured her. "Ice cream it - " Ringabel shrieked as Edea's hand moved to grasp him between the legs and _squeezed_. " _EDEA_ ," he gasped, shoving her hand away.

"Sorry," she said, though she didn't sound sorry in the least. "It's just - I remember that the crepe was kind of … well, I thought maybe there were nuts in the dough, because I kept feeling something hard. It looks like it was another sort of -"

"Well," he cut her off, flushing. "I'm not ice cream, but apparently you thought it was good enough."

Edea propped herself up on an elbow to look at him in the face. Their eyes met, and she must have seen something in them, because she started cackling. He slid his gaze over to the window. "Did I really?" the girl laughed. "That explains so much! No wonder the crepe betrayed me."

"The crepe," he hissed, "was trying to get your mouth off his ear."

"You don't like it? I thought people liked that."

"How do you - no wait, that's besides the point," he said, feeling entirely flustered that she knew about that sort of thing, and that she was saying it so casually when she she was still so close, lying beside him. The sleep gone from her eyes, she peered over at him curiously. Despite his lack of sleep, adrenaline was fueling him and his heart was pounding. "You were asleep. I would never do anything."

Edea cocked her head at him. "... now that I'm awake?"

Ringabel was now not entirely sure that _he_ was awake, because surely this was a dream. First Edea had - had manhandled him, and now she was suggesting that… that…

Maybe Edea was the one who was still asleep. He stared at her. "Go back to bed, Edea." When her eyebrows raised, he continued. "You're clearly sleepwalking. Talking. Whatever."

"Okay," she said, and he was sure that it was a trap, because Edea never agreed to do something so readily.

And he would be right, because instead of rolling over and shutting her eyes like a good girl, Edea wiggled down until she could lay her head against his chest, her arm wrapping loosely around his waist. Her breasts pressed against his stomach.

Ringabel lifted an arm, hovering his hand above her shoulder. "What are you doing?" he asked her, curious and afraid. His erection was now very close to her stomach, and he was certain she could feel it.

"What's it like?" she asked him.

"What… what is what like?" He wasn't sure wanted to know.

"Your nuts." When he sputtered, she clarified. "Well, not exactly those, Ringabel. It's just… this is the third morning I've woken up to it, and… I know it's normal for men, but isn't three times a little excessive? Unless it's always like that. Does it hurt right now?"

"It's not - it's fine, and - it doesn't normally do this," he answered his face feeling hot and tight. He was _not_  having a conversation about his penis with Edea. With a groan, he leaned his head back, lifting and a hand so that he could run his fingers through his hair. "It's just because of you."

When she didn't reply immediately, he thought back to his statement and felt his heart jump.

"Edea," he said hurriedly, to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Because of me," she said, voice flat.

"You… are so close! And so squirmy, and - actually, forget I said anything. Edea, could you be a dear and cast a Sleep spell on me? I think I'd like to be unconscious for a while."

She laughed at that, and he gulped as her chest bounced against his form with her giggles. "You're so silly, Ringabel. You probably don't want to be asleep for this."

"Are you certain? Perhaps we could both get some more sleep, and…" he trailed off as her hand moved again, this time slowly, as though testing him. He wasn't sure what he was being tested on, but he kept still, though his fingers twitched. When he felt the very tips of her fingertips brush against his clothed erection, he managed to stifle his groan by biting his lip, very hard.

"I thought you took care of it before bed," she was saying.

He had to unbite his lip to reply. "I did. It came back. They do that."

"Oh," Edea said, and she shifted slightly. "Why does it do that?"

"Why don't you ask it?" he suggested, not without a hint of sarcasm. "It has certainly nothing to do with a young woman sucking my ear and squirming against it."

"Fine," she replied, with no hint of sarcasm, and he panicked for a moment before her fingers slipped into the waistband of his drawers and his heart nearly stopped. He reached over her shoulder to grab her wrist, but she'd already touched him, her finger and palms brushing against his half-hard flesh. "What?"

"You shouldn't," he breathed, but it was very hard to get the words out because his body had now gotten a feel for her calloused fingers against his length, and it wanted more. He ached. "Edea, I'll take care of it, so - "

"I'll take care of it," she told him, and she shifted enough so that he could look at her face. It was red, but her eyes were resolute. "I have nothing else to do, Ringabel. You have to admit it."

"Nooo," he tried to protest, wanting to throw himself out of bed. "You shouldn't."

"Ringabel," she replied, rolling her eyes. "We have nothing else to do. I've already touched it - more than once, I might add. You might as well."

"... are you certain?" he asked her again, because she was right, there was very little to do, and if she wanted to - if she really wanted to handle him, he wasn't sure he could say no. It was taking all of his self control not to lift his hips up into her touch. Things were moving quickly and he was a little confused, but he could appreciate the pleasurable feelings from her hand all the same.

"I'm sure, I think. I mean… it's a little weird, but it's you. I think I'll manage." She bit her lip. "Just don't tell anyone, or I'll deny it ever happened."

"I won't," he promised, suddenly feeling eager at the very prospect of what she was suggesting. Never in his most wildest dreams had she been so… wait, _was_  he dreaming? As Edea shifted so that she could drape over his stomach, he lifted an arm and pinched himself.

Ow!

Not a dream.

Not even his dirtiest dreams could have prepared him for Edea straddling his chest as she faced his manhood directly now, propping herself on her elbows on either side of his hip. Feeling slightly nervous that he couldn't see her hands, even if he could certainly feel them, Ringabel busied himself with patting Edea's behind. Now that it had filled his vision, he didn't have much else to do with his hands, and he needed to do _something_ , anything to distract himself from the way that Edea was now pushing his drawers down off his erection until it sprung free.

"It looks weird," she commented as she poked it with a finger. Ringabel pouted.

"Please don't call it weird," he requested, feeling self-conscious. He had tried to stop comparing himself to other men years ago, but - wait, what would she know about them looking weird?! "And exactly how many have you seen?"

"Just this one," she replied, and both of her hands now wrapped securely around it as she sized it up, as though it were some sort of weapon. He hoped she wouldn't be as rough with him as she was on her spears.

Or perhaps… he should have hoped for some roughness, because the first thing Edea did was drag her hands up his length and he gasped. It was dry, and rough from her callouses, and she was holding onto him just a _tad_  too tightly, and it felt wonderful, pleasure spiking in his loin. He couldn't swallow the moan that came out him, from deep in his chest, drawn out by the way she dragged her hands back down.

Edea looked over her shoulder at him. "Wow, Ringabel. I knew you were easy to please."

"I am not," he tried to defend himself, but how could he when the evidence was in her hands? Edea turned back to the matter at hand, stroking him again with both hands. He whimpered, and grasped her thighs. They flexed around his torso.

"All I have do is stroke it, right?" Edea was saying, more to herself than to him, but he nodded all the same before - realizing that she couldn't see him do that - he cleared his throat and tried again.

"Please," he begged.

Edea, who was usually not one to agree with others without at least some argument, obeyed without further questioning. She was focused on her work - on stroking him thoroughly from root to tip, dragging the sensitive flesh with her movements. Ringabel gasped, his hips lifting up into her touch, his fingers digging into her thighs.

"This isn't so hard," Edea mused as the motion of her hands sped up. She'd used a bit of spit for lubricant, and had found that it helped. No wonder Ringabel kept lotion on his side of the bed. She'd thought he'd just liked having soft hands.

"It is hard," Ringabel gasped behind her, and she looked over shoulder at him again. In the morning's light, she could see him perfectly, and he was a mess. His hair was tangled, and slightly damp with sweat, sticking to his forehead and temples. His face was shiny and flushed, and he was biting his lip. She could see a bit of blood smeared on his chin - worry flooded her for a moment, because he hadn't been bleeding the night before, but the worry was swept away with the realization that he would tell her if it hurt. Maybe. She remembered his little comment about the Dark Knight Asterisk very clearly.

"You're hard," she replied, and took great satisfaction in the way that he seemed to flush deeper, his eyes fluttering shut with a moan. She squeezed his erection in her hands, and he bit his lip.

Despite it being a little weird, it was a little fun to play with him. Edea amused herself for a few long moments, alternating which hand she stroked him with. First it was her right hand, tight but slick around him as she tugged from the swollen, flushed head of his cock down to his very base, where neatly trimmed blonde hair covered him. Huh. So that color was natural.  She pulled away her right hand and now her left tugged down, twisting slightly. She heard him gasp, and his hands squeezed her thighs.

Edea wished she hadn't straddled him, because seeing Ringabel's cock so close was beginning to have an effect on her. Her own sex was hot and she could feel a throbbing sensation right in her core. She wanted to be able to rub her thighs together, for some relief, but she couldn't do that if his torso was between them. Shifting slightly, she leaned closer to Ringabel's body so that she could press her sex against his chest instead, grinding down. She squeezed his cock in her hands as she did so, tugging it harshly.

He moaned his loudest yet, and before Edea could turn to look at him, he hooked his arms under her thighs and tugged her closer to him. Edea yelped as she lost her footing while being repositioned, and her cheek pressed into his thigh. She yanked at his shaft.

"Ow," she heard him say.

"What are you… mmngh!" she cried when she felt his fingers press right up against her sex. To her shock, her leggings were damp there. She hadn't even noticed, as preoccupied as she had been, and she felt her face heat up. Wriggling around, Edea tried to kick at his head. He dodged.

"Don't do anything weird," she warned him, knowing the warning was futile. This was already weird. She didn't need him making it weirder by… by touching her. The pressure of his fingers was wonderful relief against the pulsing that she could feel, and she bite her lip to stifle a moan, even as her hips jerked down.

"I won't," he replied. "Promise."

She scoffed, then turned her attention back to his cock. With the new position, it was very close. Very very close. She wasn't sure how to feel about its closeness, actually, because now she could see the straining of his skin and the vein that ran down the underside… she traced it with a finger. Maybe this was a little too close, but now that she was here..

Edea learned forward and licked it like she might a particularly tasty lollipop, her tongue catching on the ridge of the head.

Behind her, where his fingers had been rubbing at her in delicious circles, Ringabel whimpered.

Edea sized his cock up again, narrowing her eyes. Now the tip was wet, from her tongue, and she tried to smear some of it down the shaft to once again make it easier to stroke him. She wasn't sure she wanted to lick him again. She liked sweeter things than this, but the reaction he'd given her... well, that at least had been good. She tried it again.

The taste wasn't any sweeter the second time, but the noise he made was enough to make her lips curl. She had always liked to take Ringabel off guard, to see him flustered and stuttering and flushing. It was just so fun to watch! And while she may not have been able to see his face at this time, she could hear him reacting in just the way she wanted. He was nervous.

Her tongue once again curled along the underside of the head, pressing against it for a moment longer than it had before. Ringabel's hands squeezed her thighs, distracting her again.

"Careful," he said, the word coming out through sheer force of will. He'd never felt so wound up and so… hot before.

"I'll be careful," Edea promised, and he once again felt her tongue caress his cock. She seemed content to merely lick him, but still, it felt wonderful. And as much as a part of him wanted her to do a bit more, he was also worried about things like teeth. Nails. Sharp things that he wasn't sure he wanted near such sensitive areas.

Then Edea shifted and he nearly forgot about all of those sensitive areas.

Her leggings were damp in the junction between her thighs. He could see this clearly, even in the low light, given how close her sex was to his face. Ringabel rubbed at the spot, enlarging it, and marveling at the heat that he felt emanating from her, even through the layers of clothing.

"We just did laundry," Edea groused, and she spread her thighs further. "You're going to get my clothes dirty again."

" _I'm_  going to dirty your clothes?" he asked, affronted. Edea was the one who was making the mess here. "If you're that worried about them, just take them off."

There was silence, before Edea wiggled and sat up. "You're right."

His heart took a leap in his chest. He was right? She never admitted when he was right, at least not out loud. Something was up.

Edea squirmed and nearly kneed him in the face as she shifted her weight enough to begin to shove her leggings down off her hips, then her thighs. Ringabel propped himself up on an elbow so that he could assist, and her panties followed soon after. She kicked both garments over the edge of the bed, unceremoniously discarding them.

"You're going to get cold," he commented as he lay back down, flexing his fingers in her thighs again. He fell silent after that remark, trying to take the view all in, barely hearing her response.

"You're supposed to keep me warm. That's the only reason I'm doing this," Edea retorted, and she once again leaned forward so that she could lick the head of his cock. The few minutes she'd spent neglecting it in favor of undressing had meant that he'd wilted somewhat, given the cold in the air, and she wanted him back up to full hardness. It had been a little flattering to see just what sort of effect she'd had on him, and he owed her that much to keep it going.

If she was going to do this, she wasn't going to go about it halfway, after all. No point in not doing it well.

"You're being mean," Ringabel mumbled.

She was being _something_. Edea squirmed a little bit, noticing that both she and Ringabel still wore their tops, and the fabric was somewhat rough against her torso. It rubbed against her nipples, sending little shocks of something like pleasure through her. It added to the inferno that was building right below her belly.

"Just be quiet," she said. "You're distracting me." Wrapping her hand tightly around his shaft again, she stroked him in the same motion that she took him into her mouth. His legs flexed, his stomach tensed, and she smiled as she started a slow motion with her lips and tongue, head bobbing over his lap.

She felt Ringabel lick a long path between her gaping slit, and she shuddered with surprise, her hips jerking. In response, he wrapped his arms around her bent thighs and kept her still.

Everything was hazy. The air around them was still chilled, but thick with the heat coming off their bodies, and she could feel something of the same heat coiling in deep in core. Pleasure was building slowly but wonderfully, urged on by Ringabel's tongue as he explored her damp folds. She felt him prod and lick, his fingers caressing her sensitive skin. When his tongue found her clit, the little bud erect and swollen with need, it curled around it not unlike the way her own tongue had curled around his member. He suckled at it, nearly driving her into a frenzy, her hips gyrating down against his face. The friction of his stubble only added to the heat.

For a few long moments they moved together. Edea found herself getting lost to the haze around and inside her, driven to find the peak of pleasure. She closed her eyes, tongue caressing Ringabel's straining member with each motion of her head. Through the fog engulfing her, she could hear and feel him moaning against her sopping sex, driving her own further. Her hand squeezed his shaft, and she felt it pulse in her fingertips before -

He came, his hips lifting off the bed as he tensed. His fingers dug into her thighs so deeply that it almost hurt, and Edea whined in the back of her throat in protest, nearly choking as his come spilled from his trembling member in the same moment. Coughing as the thick, pungent fluid overwhelmed her senses and her mouth, she found herself swallowing some of it and with a grimace, allowed the rest of it to fall out of her mouth to his stomach, still tense from his release. His cock, already waning, slipped from her lips as well.

The heat was unbearable. Edea rested her head against his slick stomach, breathing heavily as she watched the way his cock fell limply to his stomach, smearing the whitish fluid against his skin. She felt oddly hot and tight, like a wire that was about to snap. With the realization that she'd brought Ringabel to climax, that he had come for _her_ , and that his face was still buried in her own sex, it made her feel… warm, almost feverish. Her own sex pulsed in anticipation, eager to join Ringabel in bliss.

She nudged his head with a thigh. He'd stopped the motions of his mouth when he'd come. Now, prompted by her, she felt him start again, his tongue languid and slow against her pulsating core. Closing her eyes, she reached over to continue to play with his manhood, running her finger gently up and down the length before she cupped him with a hand.

When she finally went over the edge, some torturous moments later, she pressed her cheek into his stomach, using it to muffle her moan of delight. As the pleasure overtook her, she could feel his mouth pressed against her sex as it fluttered, his tongue hot against her clit and helping her ride through it. His mouth was open to her sex and the fluid that now dripped out of her in the wake of her orgasm. Was he moaning? She thought so.

When it was finally over, her body trembling with aftershocks that coursed through her, the two of them laid in the bed and breathed. Edea was only vaguely aware of the chill that began to creep through her sweaty skin again, because Ringabel beneath her was still so warm, and she felt so good.... His hands slid down the length of her body, caressing her behind and back before his arms wrapped around her and kept her in place. Close to him.

She opened her eyes to the sound of snoring.

For a few moments, she didn't remember why she was laying on her belly on Ringabel's nude - almost nude - form. But when she lifted her head and felt the stickiness of the man's release against her cheeks, strings of almost-dried come that stuck her cheek disgustingly to his stomach, the memories - and the warmth - rushed back to her.

Lifting herself slightly so that she could twist around to look at him, she could see Ringabel was… asleep, his head turned slightly to the side as he snored under her. His arms were lax around her form, and it was easy enough for her to lift herself on her knees and move off of him so that she could see him entirely.

He must have been exhausted, because he didn't make any motion of waking, even when she sat up on the bed next to him, his snoring continuing.

Edea looked him over.

His cock was limp, sitting innocently on his stomach. With his legs still half-open, and his member out in the open like that, it looked obscene. Add to the drying wetness she could see all over his face, to the point that it had plastered some of his hair to his cheeks and forehead, and there was no denying what had happened.

Her tummy fluttered as she took in the sight, and then she shivered. It was cold, and she was damp,  and her source of warmth was asleep. What had they done before had been… Edea pressed her hands into her hot cheeks. There was no going back to the previous way they had shared body heat, was there? Now…

She needed to clean and get warm. Get warm in a way that didn't involve waking Ringabel up to see what else they could do together.

Still, Edea wasn't cruel enough to leave Ringabel lying exposed to the winter air. As she left the bed, she dragged the blanket back over him, so that at least he would be covered. It was only then that she attempted to find her leggings, though she discarded them in favor of just her panties. Seriously… they had just done laundry yesterday. She wasn't about to soil them again because her own release was still smeared across her thighs.

It would be cold, but… once Ringabel woke, they could get warm again. She stole a glance to the sleeping man when she emerged from the bathroom, still a little wet but much more clean than she had been previously.

She could get back in bed with him, but… first, breakfast.

Ringabel slowly woke, vaguely aware of a soreness in his thighs and a tightness in his face. Groaning, he rolled over to his side. His eyes still felt a little tired from his overall lack of sleep the night before, but better than they had before the nap… before the nap. When Edea had been laying on top of him, sucking his cock. That hadn't been a dream.

His eyes flew open and he tried not to cringe as bright light assaulted his senses. Lifting up the blanket, he could see that his entire bottom half was bare, his stomach sticky with his own dried come, and… Edea was not in the bed with him.

Leaning back, his chest hitched as he tried to control his breathing. Panic welled in him for the briefest of moments before he forced it down. There were plenty of reasons Edea wouldn't be in bed with him after they'd had… whatever is they'd had. Did that count as sex? It was something. He could vividly remember the way her sex had pulsed against his mouth, the taste of her filling his senses and overwhelming him. He'd been so exhausted after his own release, it had taken all of his willpower to continue to pleasure her so that she'd as good as she had made him feel, and… he must have been successful. He'd never heard her moan like that, not even when presented with a triple-layer parfait with waffles and chocolate syrup, and a cherry on top.

The cabin was quiet, but that meant nothing… did it?

"Edea?" he tried, but despite what had occurred earlier, or perhaps because of it, his throat was dry. He cleared it and tried again, raising his voice. "Edea?"

"Ringabel?" she answered, her voice thick, from somewhere around the fire. He couldn't see her with the blankets over the screen, but he could hear the sound of her getting up and walking over. "You're awake?"

"Yes," he said slowly, bracing himself for the sight of her. Would she be angry? Or… he took a deep breath as she rounded the edge of the screen. Her hair was tousled, and her cheeks were pink. With embarrassment or something else, he wasn't sure. But she wore only her top and her panties, revealing her pale legs and arms to him.

"... Aren't you cold?" he asked.

Edea sighed, but he could see a smile on her lips. "I've been under a blanket by the fire. I didn't want to get my leggings too dirty…" she said, trailing off as she looked him over. "You should clean up and join me. I made breakfast."

He ran a hand over his face, noting how dirty it felt. Of course it was dirty, he'd had it buried in her sex just a little while ago. He could still taste her. "How long was I asleep?"

Edea shrugged. "A few hours? After eating, I took a nap of my own on the couch. You didn't miss much."

His hair was stuck to his face. He was positive he looked terrible, and he felt terrible as well. "I'll clean up," he said, slinging the covers aside and rolling to the side of the bed. A part of him wanted to stay in bed and perhaps sleep a bit more, but another part was too afraid that he was dreaming, and if he stayed in bed he would only wake up.

He didn't miss the way that Edea's eyes swept over his mostly nude form. Torn between the instinct to make some inappropriate remark, and the need for some privacy, he settled on. "I think I already ate breakfast, though."

Ringabel would be satisfied with the seconds it took for her to understand, and the way that her face flushed. "Pervert," she said, but there was no real bite in the word as she turned away from him. "I'll be on the couch."

He found his pants on the floor and took them with him to the restroom, cleaning up as quickly as he could with dusty, cold water. Scrubbing at his face until he was certain all of the residue was gone, he looked in his reflection, warped from the aged and pitted mirror.

"I just fucked Edea Lee," he said, and his reflection's cheeks were red. Even if it weren't technically true, saying the words out loud made it all seem so… real. She'd sucked his cock and he'd eaten her out, and he'd made her come on his very first try! Best of all, she wasn't mad at him!

Smoothing his newly-dampened hair off his forehead and over the top of his head, he winked at his reflection. "I just fucked Edea Lee and she loved it," he amended, even if that weren't technically true either. But it made warmth spread from his face to his chest all the same, and it went even further down.

His wakening cock protested the way that he unceremoniously (but carefully) shoved it into his pants as he dressed, eager to rejoin his beloved and also, perhaps eat some _food_. He was _famished_ , and any thoughts of trying to seduce her further were secondary to the idea of eating, his stomach decided for him. Maybe food would help, though. Edea was always seduced by a good meal.

He took a few moments to compose himself, to think of all the sharp one-liners and pick up lines that he had in his repertoire since undertaking the journey with his friends. But none of them had been for a situation like this, and all of them fled his head when he opened the door and saw her huddling on the couch in front of the fire, waiting for him.

"What did you make?" he asked instead, emerging from the restroom. It was cold in there, but the main cabin was notably warmer, especially in the kitchen and the area surrounding the fire.

"Some beef stew," she said, leaning over the back of the couch to look at him as he puttered around the kitchen. "I found more potatoes and jerky."

It was… delicious, especially for her cooking. It warmed him from head to toe, and after swallowing a few spoonfuls standing, he took the bowl back to the couch. Edea moved over so that he could sit, draping the free end of the blanket that she had huddled under over him. This made him sit so so close that their thighs touched.

"I checked the snow level while you were asleep," she told him casually, watching him eat. "It's still really high. Maybe about to your shoulder. Maybe… we'll need to stay another night."

He had to finish chewing a mouthful of potatoes before he could reply. "Do you want to stay another night?" Considering what happened just that morning...

"Do I have a choice?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes," he replied, brows furrowing. "If you truly want out, we could find a way. Shoulder height isn't too terribly high. You can always stay behind me while I dig us out." He didn't relish the idea, because with the snow that high it could be difficult, but…

Edea shook her head. "No, we'll stay another night. It's safer that way. And I don't mind… if it's with you."

He went quiet, and turned his attention back to his bowl, stirring it around. Either she hadn't found more spices with the potatoes or she had been conservative with them, because he hadn't tasted anything too off about the stew. If anything, it was bland for her usual tastes.

"We'll be able to stay warm a few more nights, won't we?" she asked, and when he looked up at her, she was looking into the fire, her face unreadable. "Together."

He looked her over. "Do you want to talk about earlier?" he asked, feeling something like dread creep up on him. The room felt cold, suddenly.

Edea glanced over. "No, not really," she said, and bit her lip. When she saw the look on his face, she hastened to clarify. "Not that I regret it! We did keep warm, after all. It's just… weird."

"Weird," he repeated. She fell silent, and after a few long minutes he went back to finishing up the stew. Though he was losing his appetite, he wasn't going to waste it, not when their supplies were stretched thin as it was, and not when Edea had lovingly made it for him. Besides, he needed to keep his energy if he was to dry and dig them out.

The two of them sat in silence as they ate. Ringabel dragged it out as long as he could, stirring his stew carefully and thinking about what he was going to say to her… how he was going to try and salvage their existing relationship. He loved her, even before this had happened, and as long as he could be beside her, he would be happy.

Finishing up his stew, he set the bowl aside on the floor, then turned to her to explain himself, only for Edea to speak up first.

"I mean, you have to admit it was a little weird."

"What was weird about it?" he asked her, trying not to frown. This conversation was beginning to get to him. Had she hated it that much? Did she hate him now?

Edea sighed. "Do all dicks look like that?"

… that had not been the response he'd been expecting. He gaped at her. "What?"

"I had a pretty good look at it, you know! And the taste - and then you came in my mouth, and I came in yours, and … Ringabel, you…" She was squeezing her thighs together, he realized as he looked down at her. Her nipples were stiffening through the fabric of her top. "I keep thinking about it."

Now was absolutely not the moment for a slick reply, and he wasn't sure he could form one with the way his mouth felt dry. He licked his lips instead, as his mind raced for an answer. "You don't need to feel ashamed," he started, his stomach heavy as he reached out for her. "We were caught up in the moment, and…"

"It's not that," she cut in, stopping him. "It's just… it's you."

"Are you saying I'm weird?"

"You're the weirdest," Edea said, and when she smiled at him, his heart lifted. She wasn't ashamed, not if she could smile at him like that, shy but open. "You are really the weirdest."

"What does that make you?" he asked, grinning back at her. He leaned over, and found to his relief that she didn't lean back, not entirely, though she did shift a little bit to face him. "If I'm the weirdest, but we just - " he faltered on his words, flushing slightly - " - p-pleasured each other."

"I think," she started, and her eyelashes fluttered. He was close enough to her now that he could see the depths of her blue eyes. There were indescribable emotions in them, some he recognized and some he didn't. "I think that makes me Mrs. Weird."

It was Edea who closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his roughly, almost mashing their noses in her quickness. Ringabel let his eyes fall shut, sighing as he kissed her back, tilting his head for a more natural angle. He was no novice at kissing, after all, and he quickly took control of the kiss, moving his lips gently and chastely against hers as she clung to him. His arms wound around her.

A part of him wanted to push it further, but another part wanted to take it slow and relish this newfound … thing… he had with her. Leaning back so that he could get some fresh air, his eyes opened at the same time that hers did. Her cheeks were flushed alluringly, her lips kiss swollen and slightly parted. Inviting.

Edea swallowed. "Okay, the kissing was probably the weirdest part." Her eyes flicked over to the side.

"You've… you've already sucked my - " he tried to point out to her, confused. Women were so confusing.

"I know!" she interrupted him, her cheeks flaring with color. "That's why it's weird!" She placed her hands on his chest. Not pushing him away, but not allowing him closer. "I think can taste… _myself_  on your lips."

Heat sparked in his face and for the briefest of moments he felt dizzy. Was there any going back from the events that had happened earlier? "Edea," he started, but she cut him off with her trembling fingers on his lips, his cheeks. He leaned into her cool hands.

"I told you," she said shakily. "I keep thinking about it. It's just… weird."

"You started it," he pointed out like a child, his bottom lip poking out. "Both the kiss and the dick-sucking." There, he'd said it, and felt better for it. Not that he didn't mind doing these things with her, but in his opinion it was a little unfair she was instigating it all and then calling it - and him - weird.

"I did," she admitted. "And I always see things through to the end, don't I?"

Before he could ask her what _that_  meant, she kissed him again, her lips more gentle against his own this time. He responded eagerly despite the caution he felt, especially when he felt the wetness of her tongue probing his. Ah. His Angel was being bold, was she? His lips parted to grant her entrance, his own tongue meeting hers halfway, caressing it in greeting.

One of them moaned, he wasn't sure which, and they parted for a quick gasp of air before leaning back. Her lips were somewhat chapped, but warm, and molded easily to his own as he kissed her thoroughly, his lips curving as he realized she'd been lying. The only thing he could taste on her was their food.  Her mouth was warm and hot, almost as hot as her core had been, and her scent filled his senses once more. It was softer, not as sharp, but just as enticing.

Edea was still new at this, and so she broke the kiss once more, her chest heaving for air. He kissed the corner of her parted lips, then her chin, then the underside of her jaw. "Mmn," she moaned, tilting her head back. "Ringabel…"

Instead of answering, his lips found her pulse point, thundering under her pale skin, and he sucked at carefully, drawing it out with his teeth. The way she cried out into his ear only fueled him, as did the way that she clung to him, her hands sliding around to his back, nails dragging against his skin. He bit.

Edea cried out, and squirmed, and it made it hard for him to continue to suck her neck. He stopped when she pushed at his shoulders frantically, worried he'd frightened her. "What is it?" he asked, looking up at her face. She was flushed and sweaty. Beautiful.

"Should we move to the bed?" she asked, averting her gaze from his.

Heat was low his stomach at the implication. Instead of replying, he kissed her again.

Edea leaned into it, but parted from him soon enough, breathing out hotly against his lips. "Kissing is… new," she said, and Ringabel laughed, trying not to seem like he was laughing at her. Just with her.

"I'll help you get used to it," he graciously offered, nuzzling his nose against hers. In their little blanket nest, everything was very warm, and so was he. He couldn't believe this was happening. For a moment, he suspected it only delirium from the lack of sleep the night previously, but then the woman leaned against him, and the pounding of his heart felt too real.

She tucked her head into his neck, and he readily wrapped his arms around her. Kissing was good, and maybe more was good too, but just being able to hold her like this was even better. He leaned his cheek against her damp temple, then jumped as he felt the caress of her lips against his neck. "Edea," he breathed.

Her mouth was hot and wet as she started to mouth at his feverish, sensitive skin, lips and tongue exploring. Ringabel groaned, shifting slightly and grasping her arms. Edea was almost in his lap, and he was certain that any moment now she would be able to feel just how much her touch was affecting him. It would be embarrassing, even for him.

"Ow," he muttered when he felt her nip at him. It sent a confusing spiral of pleasure to his stomach.

"That didn't hurt at all," she replied, her response muffled against his neck. Then she lifted one of her knees and pressed back against him, and the next thing he knew his back was against the couch and she was straddling him, her thighs digging into the worn cushion. Her bottom brushed against the bulge in his lap.

Edea looped her arms around his shoulders. "You'd better keep me warm," she warned.

He smiled at her despite the butterflies in his stomach, his hand flexing over her hips. She was only in her panties and undershirt, after all, and while he'd put on his pants, they were a barrier he was eager to be rid of. He hadn't thought to put on his underthings, and the fabric was rough against his burgeoning member, causing some discomfort. But if he were to disrobe now, then…

"I will," he promised and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "You'll keep me warm as well, won't you?"

Her lips were wet when they brushed against his cheek. His heart fluttered in his chest at the chasteness of it. "Of course," she replied. "We'll stay warm together." And then she squirmed against him, and one of her hands was pressing to his stomach, and he felt another pulse within him.

They stopped speaking then, exchanging their thoughts and feelings through touch and kisses. His fingers were tender as he rubbed at her arms and shoulders, chasing away some of the tenseness that he could feel under her skin. In return, her lips continued to mold against his neck, sucking at him and sending heat deep into his core. He leaned his head back to give her more room as his hands dipped down to her waist and then, carefully, started to push her shirt up and over her head.

She had to lean back so that he could tug it over her head, and he bit his lip as it finally cleared her shoulders, revealing the creamy skin of her bare chest. He'd seen plenty of her chest before, considering some of the outfits she had worn in the past, but never quite like… this. He breathed out shakily as he looked her over, noting how easily her dark pink nipples stiffened in the air, pointing out from her perky breasts.

Edea placed her hands on his arms, squeezing. When he looked at her, her cheeks were pink.

Grinning to himself, he leaned forward to kiss her mouth, then ducked his head down to her jaw again, then back to her neck and - his arms wound around her so that he could lift her up on her knees and give him access to her collarbone. Freckles dotted her skin here and there, faint and barely visible, but he kissed each one in turn as they made a path down to her chest until he kissed the curve of her breast.

Edea hummed, her hands moving to tangle into his hair. And then the woman was moaning as he carefully, slowly, tugged one of those cold-stiffened nipples into his mouth to suck, drawing it readily to the very back of his tongue. Here, he could give it the attention it properly deserved, lavishing and warming it with his tongue. In return, she squirmed harshly on his lap, her hips rolling down against him, her fingers tugging his damp hair. WIth his free hand, he warmed the other, neglected nipple, rolling it against his palm as he massaged her breast.

The noises she made, so very close to his ear, were encouraging.  The way she continued move on his lap were also spurring him on, his other hand trailing up her bare leg so that he could grasp her behind and pull her closer to him. His fingers easily slipped under and tugged her panties aside, reaching her damp heat that accepted him readily. Just like earlier, he rubbed at her center, finding that his fingers slipped all too easily into her eager entrance. She rolled her hips back against them, allowing him to caress her both inside and out.

Edea's fingers were trailing lines of fire down his scalp, to his neck and his shoulders. She used that grip to hold herself in place, her lips falling open as she cried out his name, arched her back and -

"Oh!" Ringabel pulled his hand away from her breast and to her waist, keeping her from tumbling off his lap and to the floor. Or worse, into the fire.

Edea pressed her chest to his, shuddering. She clung to him for a moment, seemingly startled, and Ringabel rubbed her back, tugging the blanket back over her bare back as he kissed her shoulder and waited for her.

Finally, she spoke, licking her lips. "Your pants," she said, and she leaned back to sit on his lower thigh. Her hands were already reaching for the ties at his belt. "Take them off."

He was _glad_  to do so, his manhood aching for freedom. "Yes, dear," he said, but it was Edea's hands that unbuckled his pants and shoved them down off his thighs, the two of them standing briefly so that they could be pulled all the way to the floor where he nudged them aside with a foot.

Without speaking, their eyes met and they disrobed further; Ringabel's undershirt was tossed over the back of the couch; her panties joined his pants on the floor. At with that, Edea sat on his lap again, his hands resting easily on her thighs.

She shivered.

"Cold?" he asked, reaching for the blanket that had been shoved aside when she stood.

"A little," Edea admitted, wrapping her arms over her chest. Hiding herself from him. When the blankets was draped over her shoulders, she leaned against him, their bare chests pressing together. Ringabel kissed the top of her head. He felt a little dizzy at how things were going, but… Edea was soft and growing warm, and he enjoyed the feeling of her in his arms. Even if things stopped there, he would be content. He'd been able to kiss her, and a little more, and she seemed like she would let him continue to hold her, as long as he asked.

For a few long moments, the two of them sat there, listening to the sound of the fire crackling nearby and to each other's breathing. Then, Edea leaned back to look at his face.

"I'm still cold," she whispered. Her eyes had darkened with lust, and now they met his for a brief moment before she glanced away.

"Oh," he replied. "We - ah, we could move back to the bed. There's more blankets there, and…" she was shaking her head as he trailed off.

"It'll be fine here, but please, Ringabel… don't make me say it," she flushed, looking down at him. One of her hands fell between them, her fingers flexing. His manhood, half-hard due to lack of attention, was practically begging to be attended to.

"What if I want to hear it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, then jumping when her hand wrapped around his shaft, tugging him easily. He bit his lip to keep from moaning at the contact, even as his hips lifted.

"That's weird," she said, and laughed. He laughed with her, leaning up to kiss her lips. "But I suppose we're both weird," she continued, and her eyes slipped shut. He took the opportunity to kiss them each in turn, then her nose, and then her slightly-part lips, where she breathed out a sigh of anticipation against his own. She squeezed his cock.

Then, she lifted herself up on her knees and inched closer, holding his erection steady in her hand underneath her, her other digging into his shoulder. Ringabel grasped her hips to guide her, letting her take most of the control while he supported her as she rubbed the head of his cock against her wet slit, both of them gasping at the contact, his cock twitching. At her touch, it had sprung back to life, and now it was straining in her lithe fingers. When she lowered herself - Ringabel moved one of his hands to help her, worried that she wasn't able to see what she was doing - and he found there was little resistance, her body accepting him easily and fully until their hips met.

He'd never felt such an inferno, Edea's inner heat engulfing him entire and threatening to overtake all his senses. With a low groan, he leaned his head against the back of the couch, gulping in lungfuls of cold air to steady himself. Almost of his own accord, his hips were rocking up into her, desperate for her heat.

Edea was whimpering, which alarmed him for a brief moment before he realized it wasn't in _pain_ , it was in _pleasure_ , her chest heaving as she gasped for air. He moaned, his fingers digging into her thighs as he tried to steady himself. The instinct to drive into her was strong, but the need to ensure she was ready for him was even stronger. He willed his hips to stop any motion, his fingers flexing painfully on Edea's hips as the woman shifted above him. Her muscles squeezed him almost painfully.

"Edea," he breathed, moving forward to brush his lips against hers. "I can - "

"Wait," she said, tugging at his lip with her teeth. "Wait." He waited, shuddering as he kissed her again and again.

After some agonizingly long minutes, Edea rolled her hips in a circle and they both gasped.

"Now," she moaned, and her nails pressed into his shoulders. "Ringabel, now."

The way she'd said his name - he wanted to hear it say it again. Ringabel's hands moved from Edea's thighs to her ample behind, squeezing the flesh there as he held her closer. His feet pressed into the floor for purchase as he started to pump up into her, acting on only instinct and need. Her hips rocked back and forth over his lap, meeting his thrusts halfway, her cries rising each time.

They had reached the boiling point, together.

Ringabel now gasped for breath, his mouth slack over hers as they moved together, burning hot. His blood thundered through his veins, rushing in his ears, but not nearly as loud as Edea's cries of pleasure, the woman clinging to him. With each movement he sought to make her louder and louder, to fill the cold, empty cabin around them.

Things had long since ceased to make sense. He couldn't remember a time when they had - couldn't really remember anything but what it was like to live in this present time, joined with Edea and loving her so completely. The sound of her voice, so sweet and full of need that matched his own, her lips brushing against his own as she arched over him, her fingers tight on his shoulder and neck, nails digging into his skin...  all of it consumed him. His eyes slipped shut as he memorized the feel of her body both inside and out, and of the tempo that they had reached. Pleasure was coiling deep in his stomach and rushing all the way to his toes, and soon…

Soon, he tipped over the edge into an abyss, choking on his own breath as he came. His hips stilled as he spent himself, pressing deep into Edea for one long moment as waves of pleasure washed through him, stronger than any he'd ever known by himself. When it passed, exhaustion followed close after and he all but collapsed, coughing lightly.

Edea whined, kissing his cheeks frantically. "Ringabel," she moaned, and he realized she was still full of need.

Eyes, legs, and even fingers feeling heavy in the way of his release, he managed to slip one hand between them to the apex between her legs. His cock was rapidly softening, and her hips had stilled in their moments, but he could still caress her erect little bud, the center of her sex. Their moans matched when the sensation caused her muscles to tighten around him; his was one of slight pain, and her's one of pleasure.

"I'm not normally like this," he tried to say, but it was very much a struggle to keep his eyes open now. He'd come… what, three times in a relatively short amount of time? That was a record for him, and his cock felt oversensitive, trapped in her.

"You liar," Edea panted against his lips, pressing her cheek to his. She was rolling her hips in the tiniest of circles as he rubbed at her clit. "I know this was your first time."

His cheeks flared hotter than they had been during the act of sex. "W-well…"

"Mmm." She cut him off with a kiss. "Ringabel, _please_."

He shut up, and focused on her, his fingers making quick work of her aching sex. With minutes Edea moaned long and loud, right into his ear, her muscles fluttering painfully but delightfully around his spent member. He clutched her to his chest as she shuddered, coming down from her high.

Then he closed his eyes and slept.

When he opened them next, Edea was curled up against him, her head nestled against his shoulder. She was breathing steadily, deeply - sleeping. His arms were loose around her, but he tightened them now, squeezing her gently so as to not wake her. The blanket was wrapped around them, keeping them warm despite the fact that the fire had gone down while they slept.

His feet, on the floor, were cold.

Ringabel ran his hands down Edea's back, even as he shifted and crossed his legs so that he could tuck his feet into the little blanket nest they had. He couldn't believe what had transpired, despite the very real evidence on his lap in the form of her nude body. Her skin was so warm… he continued to caress her back and thighs as he waited for her to wake, trying not to vibrate with anxiety.

He would be lying if he tried to claim that he had never fantasized about Edea in this way, because he certainly had, allowing thoughts of his beloved to fill his mind on particularly lonely nights when he was pent up, but none of those fantasies could have prepared him for the reality of what they'd just done. It was better than anything his paltry imagination could have come up with. The softness of her burning skin, the wet feeling of her body around him, the way her cries pierced straight into his core every time he thrust into her…

He shivered, and felt Edea's eyelashes move.

"Mmm," Edea said, nuzzling further into him. He smiled, pressing his cheek to her head. The urge to cuddle her was suddenly overwhelming; she was just too cute. "Ringabel?"

"I'm here," he replied, taking a deep breath. He felt giddy over the fact that they'd had sex, but how would she feel? Would she regret it…? It had been sudden, after all, he could admit that. If it was just because of the tension that had built up between them...

Edea let out another noise, then leaned back from him, pushing herself up with a hand on his chest. Ringabel kept his own hands on her waist, holding her so that she didn't tumble back onto the floor or the fire. She rubbed at her eyes with the other hand as she looked them both over. Her cheeks were still flushed an attractive red, her hair sticking to her neck and face. She looked a mess. She looked lovely.

"How do you feel?" he asked, caressing her hip with a thumb.

"Sore," Edea admitted, and she shifted slightly. "Really sore."

He grimaced. He knew enough about sex to know that was more common than not, but now he wondered if he had been a little rough with her. He hadn't imagined their first time would be on a couch, after all. He'd wanted it to be romantic, with rose petals and candles, and _love-making_.

"I'm sorry," he replied, lifting his other hand to try and clear some of her hair from her face. "I didn't mean -"

"It's… okay," she said, shaking her head. "I know you'd never hurt me. And it doesn't hurt. It's just… sore, Ringabel. Like the type of sore you get when you have a really, really good workout."

"Which we did," he reminded her.

Her cheeks bloomed with color. "We did."

They both went silent, and Ringabel wasn't sure how to proceed. Edea saved him by attempting to slide off his lap. The blanket fell from her shoulders to the floor. "I need to… use the restroom," she said, steadying herself with her hands against his chest. He touched her arms. "And I'm hungry."

How long had they been sleeping? He looked past Edea to the fire, then to the windows. "We'll eat. And then…." he trailed off as he looked back to the woman standing before him.

Edea was nude, and her body was illuminated by the day's sun shining through the windows. Ringabel was speechless as his eyes swept over her, admiring. It highlighted the creaminess of her skin and none of the blemishes from the scars and calluses she'd accumulated over the years. In the cool of the room, her nipples were stiff and perky, drawing his attention to the way she ran her hands nervously over her breasts. Her inner thighs were damp, clearly visible in the sun, the fluids left over from their coupling. The sight of it made something twist deep in his stomach.

Then she crossed her hands over her chest. "Stop staring," she told him, her cheeks a deep red.

"You're beautiful," he blurted out.

"I'm a mess," she replied, but she let out a nervous laugh all the same. "Really, I need to clean up. _Then_  we'll eat."

Ringabel was just as much a mess. His own thighs were slick and sticky, and his hair was a lost cause. "I'll put the pot on to heat," he replied as he attempted to stand. His legs protested the action, also sore from his earlier activity. She steadied him with a hand as he staggered.

He stared down at her, into blue eyes that he wasn't sure he could ever see the same again. They were as light as ever.

He leaned down at the same time she tilted her face up, and their lips met, molding to one another easily. Naturally. Edea hummed against his mouth as he kissed, chaste but loving.  He sighed.

"Dinner," she reminded him.

"Is it time for dinner?" he asked, stooping down to pick up his pants and pull them on. Edea scooped up her clothing as well, though she merely held them in her arms.

"I don't know," she said, glancing at the window. They couldn't see the exact position of the sun with the snow so high. "I think it's probably in the afternoon, but…"

Time had escaped them, in this little cabin. Everything outside of it no longer mattered. He smiled at her.

"We'll eat a big dinner and go to bed, yes?"

Edea shifted slightly, her thighs pressing together. "Yeah… let's do that."

Ringabel tried not to grin and ruin the mood. "Go get clean," he managed to suggest with a relatively neutral face. "I'll clean up when I'm done in the kitchen."

Edea vanished into the restroom and he went into the kitchen, washing his hands before turning the heat back on the pot. He added a bit more water, to help fill out the meal, and watched the water swirl as he stirred it, his thoughts swirling around as well.

He'd just had sex with Edea. This time, it was real sex, the two of them actually joining as man and woman. The sensation of knowing her so intimately had changed everything, even though he knew nothing had changed at all, really…

It was just… how could they ever go back to what they'd had before now? He wasn't the type of man to have one-night stands, and Edea wasn't that type of woman, either. Something was between them now, something he couldn't quite name, try as he might to pin it down.

As absorbed in his thoughts as he was, he didn't notice Edea coming back into the room until she was right beside him and leaning over the pot. "It smells good," she said.

He jumped. "When did you come back?" he asked.

Edea laughed at him, but not unkindly. "I've been back, Ringabel. I just wiped down a little bit. Why don't you do that too? You smell." She wrinkled her nose.

"Thanks," he said, pouting at her. That wasn't very romantic. "Maybe we should take another bath? Together?"

"The tub won't fit us both," she reminded him. "But good try."

Ringabel stuck his tongue at her. She pushed at his shoulder. "Go!"

When he left, it was Edea's turn to stir their meal. She looked down into the cloudy water, then reached over to the packet of spices she'd left on the counter, deciding to sprinkle more in.

She'd already had time to think on how much sex she wanted to keep having with Ringabel, after all.

In the restroom, she'd sat on the ancient toilet and cleaned herself, hands shaking both with cold and a little bit of shock. Ringabel had left a whitish mess in her, one she'd noted with a small amount of dismay and a mental note to follow up on any sort of delayed protection she could take once they returned to Grandship. If they returned. The past few days had blurred together, seeming endless, and with the new - interesting - development in their relationship, it had been momentarily tempting to entertain the thought of living out her days with him. Then she'd reminded herself that she was planning on doing that already, in one way or another, and if it had to be here, she'd eventually murder him out of frustration.

The sex had been a very pleasant way to pass the time. To feel good while passing the time, and feel loved. Her body pulsed as she thought of how he'd held her, his arms strong and sure, his thrusts deep and eager. Edea bit her lip as she shifted. She felt sore now, but maybe if Ringabel was a little more gentle the next time…

By now she was relatively sure there would be a next time. She couldn't ignore all the feelings that had come out between them, and they were alone. Would be alone for a while yet.

Ringabel returned, his hair wet from a fresh scrub down.

"It's almost ready," she told him. "Still getting warmed up."

"I can wait," he replied, joining her in the kitchen. His arms wrapped around her, and he leaned in, pulling her to his chest. She closed her eyes, relishing the warmth of his skin. Being held like this was nice.

"Go make yourself useful," she murmured after a moment, leaning her head back against him. "Wash the dishes."

Ringabel whined. "Must I, dear?"

"Yes. We're almost out of clean ones, and I'm not eating out of a dirty bowl." Well, she probably would if she had to, but she wouldn't like it.

Ringabel grumbled but did as he was told, while she stayed at the stove. A smile curved the corner of her lips as she watched him gather up the bowls and spoons and carry them to the sink. The washing water would be cold, but it would suffice. And lucky her, while Ringabel was cleaning dishes with frigid soapy water, she got to stay in front of the warm stove.

Once the stew was nicely heated again, and the bowls were clean, they ate quickly and with little chatter, devouring their generous servings. They'd been more active in the past few hours than they had in the past few days, and it was noticeable in how hungry they felt.

Ringabel even went for seconds, eager to both fill his stomach and gain some strength for the rest of the day… evening, he noted, as the light turned an orangeish hue that indicated sunset wasn't too far off.

"We spent most of the day asleep," he said, amusement tinging his voice.

Edea followed his gaze to the window. " _You_  spent most of the day asleep. I was awake for a few hours listening to you snore."

He flushed. "I was tired! Someone kept me awake all night by thinking that I was some sort of dessert!"

"Ice cream. I dreamt that you were ice cream."

"Ice cream," he clarified. "And then I was so fearful you would continue to consume me that I had so stay awake for my own safety. How could I possibly sleep in that situation?"

Edea shrugged. "You were happy to let me consume you later."

Ringabel was very glad that he wasn't eating at the moment, because he was certain he would have wasted the food and spit it up all over her. "Edea!" he gasped, mortified. Where had she learned these things? His innocent angel… was not as innocent as he had assumed. He knew that well now.

The blush on her cheeks betrayed her giggles. "Sorry, Ringabel," she laughed. "Your face is so red. Maybe we've been sleeping most of the day, but the rest of it… the rest of it has been memorable, to say the least."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, unsure of how to really proceed. It was undeniable that by having sex, they had gone further than they'd ever gone before, and they hadn't even really been on a proper date!

Edea went quiet, looking out one of the windows behind him. She stirred her food slowly. "What is there to talk about?" she finally replied. "It's done. We did it. We're… we'll figure out what we are later when we're out of here. When we have some more space."

"I still owe you a date," he murmured.

She smiled at him, causing his heart to do a little flip. "We're doing things out of order, aren't we? It's not that I don't… like… this. I just want to be able to get out of here before we have a talk."

It did make sense, he thought. The sex had, ultimately, been result of the tension between them snapping. It was a way to keep warm, and to feel good. They were talking about it now, but it sounded like Edea need some true space. In a way, he wanted some space as well. Space he wasn't going to be able to get here.

"Shall we go to bed, then?" he suggested. He was certain that bed meant they would end up fooling around a bit more, and whatever they couldn't say in words they could say in actions. He'd liked being so close to her and he wanted more of it. Whatever that meant for their relationship, they would just have to find out later.

Edea nodded, scraping the sides of the bowl she held. "Yeah. It'll be warm when we're in bed." She bit her lip and looked up him. He felt his cheeks burn.

"I'll keep you warm," he promised.

Keeping her warm meant climbing on top of her once they were back in the big, fluffy bed, and nuzzling against her shoulder as she laughed. It meant running his hands down her bare side to tickle her, and getting tickled in return when she rolled over onto her back so that her hands could be free. It meant pulling the blankets over them and tangling his legs against hers as he memorized the softness of her skin and each freckle on her chest.

"You're a little heavy," Edea complained softly, her hands running up and down his shoulders and arms.

"Oh, sorry," he replied, shifting slightly so that he wasn't lying as thoroughly on her. She cupped his face, rubbing her thumb across his stubble, and he closed his eyes, smiling softly.

He wanted to say so many things, but wasn't sure how to voice any of them in a way that wouldn't get him pushed away. So instead, he leaned down to kiss her, breathing out against her lips. She kissed him eagerly in return, opening her lips easily to his questing tongue.

Kissing her like this, so deep and intimately, sent heat spiraling straight into his core. His cock had been wakening before, at the touch of her bare skin, but now it surged. He pressed it against Edea's thigh as he kissed her thoroughly, their breaths intermingling with gasps of pleasure.

Edea moaned against his lips, and broke the kiss so that she could breath, panting as she turned her head to the side. Unwilling to entirely break the contact between them, he peppered kisses to her neck and collarbone.

Her fingers moved into his damp hair. "I'm cold," she complained.

"I can see that," he replied, amused. Her nipples were stiff once more, and he ran his tongue along one before sucking it into his mouth. She arched delightfully into him, her cry music to his ears. Glancing up along her chest, his eyes met hers. She bit her lip.

He wouldn't bite her nipple, but he did suck at it, using his tongue to draw the nub further back into his mouth. Edea squirmed under him, her nails scraping against the nape of his neck, causing shivers to run down his spine. In response, his tongue rolled and twirled around the nipple settled gently between his lips. Edea lifted her free handle to massage her other breast, her palm frantically working at the twin to the peak in his mouth.

Something about seeing her come undone so completely was entirely intoxicating, more so than any drink he'd ever consumed. Pulling back from her flesh, he blew at her nipple, then switched sides to give attention to the neglected one, pushing her hand out of the way.

There was something deep in his core that was enjoying this more than it should. He suckled hungrily at Edea's breast, rocking down against her as she squirmed and bucked under him. One of his hands trailed between her legs, partially so that he could touch her and partially to keep her steady. She was already wet, her sex slick with want and easily entered.

"Ringabel!" she gasped his name. He flinched as her nails dug into his skin, and he popped off her breast, lifting his head so that he could look at her. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes slightly unfocused, her pupils blown wide.

"Are you ready?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"Yes, I… think so."

She felt ready. Ringabel held his erection in one hand as he slid into her, finding it easier and if possible, wetter than before. They moaned in unison as they met, Edea lifting one of her legs to give him easier access to her box until he was fully inside, their hips meeting. He grasped her thighs in his hands, and rocked deep into her.

"Go slow," she said, propping herself up on an elbow so that she could see where they met. " _Please_."

How could he ever turn down such a polite plea? Ringabel nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on the feeling of his beloved around him, so wonderful and warm. He braced himself against her leg as he slipped out slightly, then pushed back, filling her fully once more. His strokes were slow but deliberate as he held back.

She made a little noise, deep in her chest, every time he thrust into her. The noise was addicting, and he tried to keep it up as long as he could, until her noises melded into moans that filled his ears. He could feel her muscles clenching hungrily around him as she started to rock back into his thrusts, meeting him halfway. Judging by the motion he felt, she had moved a hand down to rub just above her clit. Ringabel opened his eyes to look down at his beloved, and yes… she was touching herself, biting her lip with her eyes half-lidded. The sight was… too much for him.

It was over in an instant. Ringabel gasped when he came, his hips shuddering to a stop. Heat coursed through him and for what felt like an eternity, everything was still.

Then that eternity ended and he drooped, flushing hotly as he looked over the woman underneath him. "I - I'm sorry," he stammered.

Edea let out a sigh. "Ringabel, come here." She opened her arms for him, beckoning him down, and he gladly lowered himself against her, breathing out a sigh of his own.

"I'm sorry," he said again, his cheeks feeling hot even as he settled down. "I honestly don't know-"

"Stop apologizing," she said, pressing a finger against his lips. "That doesn't matter."

It did to him. He had expectations of himself, given his reputation! Instead of replying though, he slowly pursed his lips against her finger, kissing it. His eyelids - no, his entire body felt heavy. Ringabel rolled over to the side, pulling Edea with him. The woman grunted slightly as their weight shifted, glancing up at his face.

"Forgive me," he mumbled, swallowing a yawn. "I should be better at this."

She laughed, ducking her head down against his shoulder. "Ringabel, really. Don't worry about it… we have time for more later, after all."

He didn't want to sleep, as tempting as it was to fall victim to the waves of sleepiness that were tugging at the edges of his mind. Sleep meant less time to hold Edea and relish in their newfound closeness. So he instead clung to her, rubbing her back with his hand, and started talking. Talking would always keep him awake.

"We do have some time, you're right. And - if you're sure you don't mind staying with me, for another day or two or… well, however long we're in here, then…"

"It's fine," she assured him. "We've already done it."

They had already done it. He felt his face heat up at how casually she had said, and how normal it seemed already for her to be lying beside him, the two of them as nude as the day they were born. Were it not freezing cold in the air surrounding them, and difficult to see due to the dim light, he might want to pull the covers aside so that he could properly see and admire her. As it was, he nestled against her soft, warm skin. It was every bit as lovely as he imagined.

"I am sorry," he said again, and he could hear her start to protest. "Because I would have liked to make this a bit more romantic for you. It's only what you deserve, after all."

"Romantic how?" she asked, sounding curious, if not somewhat exasperated.

Ringabel cleared his throat and thought back to his multiple fantasies about the subject, trying not to yawn. "Well, the fireplace is romantic, but there could have been a fur rug involved. And candles, candles are always good. After we roll around some on the rug, we would drink champagne… oh wait, you're underage. So perhaps hot chocolate instead?"

"Hot chocolate sounds nice," Edea said, and she wiggled against him. He sighed as she tucked her head against his neck. "I wish we had some here, with marshmallows and whipped cream."

Even he could appreciate hot chocolate now and then, especially since coffee wasn't a very romantic or cuddly drink, and he privately agreed that it sounded delicious. Instead of agreeing with her verbally, he kissed the top of her head.

"And then I would kiss you," he continued after a moment of silence. "And pleasure you all night as you cry out my name."

Edea was wrinkling her nose. "Must you put things that way? Please talk like a normal person."

Ringabel pouted, but kissed her temple. "I am a normal person, but if I'm not, what does that make you?"

Hadn't he said something similar earlier? Edea seemed to recall the same, and he could see the flush on her cheeks even in the dim light.

"Stop talking," she told him, and kissed his jaw.

"What shall I do instead then?" he asked. Now that he'd had a few minutes, he wasn't feeling as tired. Still, it would be some time before he could recover and continue with her… except now she was grinning, looking up at the ceiling as she thought, her lip quirking even as she bit it.

"I'm sure we'll find some use for your mouth that isn't speaking, right?" she asked him, and when their eyes met his stomach and heart both did a somersault. The look that he saw, reflected in the dim light of the dying fire and obscured starlight, could have heated all the snow surrounding the cabin. It warmed him from head to toe.

"I'm all yours," he replied, his voice low, belying the giddiness he felt still. "I'll let you do the talking for the rest of the night."

And he did. Though, some of what came out of her mouth weren't entirely words, coaxed out of her chest by his tongue and lips, his fingers and palm, and his love.

When they both finally allowed sleep to claim them for one more night, it was to the sound of silence. While they had kept each other warm, the fire had died hours ago and the snow outside muffled the world.

 


	5. Day 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After yesterday, what else could possibly happen between them? Where do they from here? And when will they ever leave this cabin?

It was warm in the nest of blankets, much too warm. Edea squirmed, noting with distaste even in her half-asleep mind how her skin stuck to Ringabel's with sweat. Then she realized _what_ skin was stuck to Ringabel's. All of it, their chests and stomachs and legs pressed together. The two of them were entirely nude.

All at once the memories of the previous night - _day_  - came rushing back to her, and she felt her face heat up even more. Peeking under the blankets, she could see the way their bodies molded together, limbs entangled, skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat.

No wonder she was so _sore_. Ringabel had been a gentle, but eager lover, and they'd spent hours exploring each other for well, for lack of anything better to do than each other. Not all of it had been sex, intercourse. She'd been strangely full of energy, as she and Ringabel memorized the other's bodies, and had spent most of the night with their skin touching in some way, whether it be just their hands, or their legs, or their entire forms from toe to shoulder in the times they did join.

She shifted uncomfortably and tried to pull herself away from him again. She needed to use the restroom and she needed some time to herself. She needed a long, hot bath so she could ease some of the ache she felt, not just in her sex but in her thighs and arms. Her whole body felt foreign to her.

Ringabel stirred as she peeled her skin from his. "Dear?"

Was she his dear now? He'd called her many other names last night, and the memory of a few of them made her cheeks flush. He read too many romance novels, that man.

"I need to clean up," she said, and watched his pale eyelashes flutter open. He squinted at her in the light. "We both should."

They smelled pretty bad, like sweat and sex and heat. Another reminder of how active they'd been the previous night.

Ringabel grimaced as he sat up on one elbow, their skin unsticking further. "We should," he agreed, rubbing at his face with one hand. "Would you like a bath? I'll get the basin ready for you if you wish to stay here where it's warm."

Against her will, her heart surged with something she still hadn't identified. He looked like he felt just as bad as she did, and yet he was offering to take care of her first. That, more than all the caresses he'd given her the night before, told her how much he truly cared.

"I need to use the restroom," she confessed. "But you're right, a bath sounds good too… do you want to join me?" She'd might have to sit on his lap, but she thought the two of them could fit.

He made a noise of agreement, still rubbing at his face.

They unstuck themselves and Edea gingerly rolled out of bed, stumbling slightly on sore thighs. Ringabel sat on the edge of the bed, hunching over and shivering in the cool air.

"The fire died," he said, glancing over to the living room. "I'll go and light it again." He stood, not bothering to fetch his clothing.

Already, Edea was getting used to seeing him nude in front of her. Still, her eyes swept over his naked form as he stretched and wandered over to the other side of the screen, her gaze dropping down to his behind - to watch his gait, she told herself, to see if he felt as sore in the legs as she did. It looked like he did.

Ringabel called from the living room. "Go clean up, Edea! I'll start heating water for a bath."

"Sure," she replied, and took a thin, small blanket from the desk, wrapping it around herself before she entered the small restroom.

The blanket was probably more for ornamental purposes than practical, and barely staved off any cold. Still, it was enough to keep her shivering under control as she cleaned herself up as best she could, wincing both at her own touch and the feeling of the frigid water.

She wouldn't say that it was _painful_  but she was so very sore to the point that she couldn't fathom being touched anymore. On the other hand, she  _wanted_  to be touched. She wanted to continue to fill her days with warmth and with Ringabel's attention, now that she knew it, now that the two of them were alone together, away from the real world.

Also, sex was actually really fun. No wonder people were such fans of it.

Mrgrgr. Edea bit her lip and hunched over a little bit as she carefully prodded herself. Maybe… maybe if she used White Magic? She had the Red Mage asterisk, so a simple Cure could be used, and her mana stores were topped off, considering how nicely she'd slept.

Whispering the words to herself, a coolness unlike the chill surrounding her swept through her body. It chased out the vestiges of soreness in her limbs and settled in her lower tummy. Testing it, she realized she wasn't as sensitive as she had been a few moments before. Another Cure, and she could touch herself without pain as she wiped down her inner thighs.

Had she just discovered Holly Whyte's secret?

After washing her face quickly, she left the room to go seek out her… whatever it was that Ringabel was. They hadn't defined their relationship yet.

He was in the kitchen, still nude, but heating up pots of water for a bath. That seemed a little dangerous. Steam rose from the pots, making his face shiny, even if the water had yet to boil. She noticed that he'd also started the fire in the living room back up, and the combination of all the fires was making the cabin quite warm. She liked it.

"Hello dear," he said, his eyes shining as she bounded over to him. She didn't miss the way his gaze lingered on her bare chest. "How are you feeling?"

Edea leaned up on her toes to kiss him, shocking herself at natural the movement was. There was a smile on his lips as he returned the kiss, chaste but intimate.

"I was really sore," she said, lifting her hands so that she could draw the edges of the blanket over his shoulders to keep him warm. It wasn't very necessary, with all the fires and the steam, but still. "But I cast Cure and I feel better."

"You used White Magic?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mm!" She cast a healing spell on him too, and couldn't miss the way that he seemed to stand easier. "It helps, doesn't it?"

"It does," he admitted, a smile on his lips. "It does make sense - if we use Cure to help with fatigue in battle, why can't it be used - "

"-In the bedroom," she finished for him, slyly. He flushed, nodded. She had always enjoyed flustering him, but it was several times more enjoyable when they were so intimately close like this. Lifting up on her toes again, she kissed him once more.

This time Ringabel held it, chasing her down to her level when she leaned back. Sighing against his lips, Edea allowed him to draw her to his chest, the man holding her tightly as she wrapped her arms around his waist in return. She'd gotten used to his body heat last night, and feeling it again was wonderful.

His lips moved from hers to her chin and to her neck. Edea sighed softly, pressing herself against him as her nipples stiffened from both cold and excitement. "Don't get distracted," she warned him. His hands were wandering now, tracing down her side to cup her rear end. The two of them were still completely nude aside from the blanket she'd draped over their shoulders, and with the lack of space between them, Edea could feel that perhaps her Cure had had a greater effect on him than she first thought.

"It's not boiling yet," he said, glancing to the stove, then turning it down. Edea tucked her head into his shoulder. "And I'm getting cold."

He was lying, because his face was still shiny from the steam. Edea kissed his neck. "Me too," she said.

In an instant, she was lifted off her feet. Ringabel's hands were firm and strong around her waist as he picked her up and placed her on the wooden countertop on the opposite side of the kitchen from the stove. It was solid, more than enough to hold her weight, and could probably hold his as well if he wanted to climb up as well.

Which he didn't. Instead, he settled between her thighs as they opened, her bottom resting on the very edge of the old, worn wood. Edea cradled his face, noting how _good_  he looked. The deep rest that he'd had the past couple of days had done him well. He was a light sleeper, and normally stayed up too late on top of it, but being forced to go to bed at a reasonable time with her, and sleeping deeply after he'd exhausted himself had chased away the deepest purple under his eyes, eased some of the wrinkles in his forehead. Sure, he officially had an unkempt beard spanning his chin and jaw, and his skin looked uneven and splotchy from lack of makeup, but the look fit him. It made her insides squirm.

"We just woke up," she reminded him, but there was a smile on her lips all the same as she pulled him close. Instead of kissing him, though, she pressed her lips to his forehead.

"I know," he replied, his voice soft. She could feel how warm his cheeks were getting in her hands and the flutter of his eyelashes as his eyes slipped closed. He leaned against her, turning his head slightly so he could rest it on her shoulder. Edea, in turn, pressed her cheek to his forehead, moving her hand as he settled, so that she could thread it through his hair.

There were tangles, not helped by how often she'd run her fingers through his hair last night. Now she combed through his platinum locks gently, detangling them as she went. His breath was hot as he breathed out into her neck, filling the small amount of space between them with warmth. She snuggled against him. Her back and legs were cold, but thanks to the small blanket around them, it wasn't unbearable.

Yet. "My feet are cold," she said after a minute, crossing her legs behind his rear and pressing her feet to the back his thighs. Ringabel let out a loud, unhappy noise and plastered himself closer to her.

"That's unfair," he complained, wriggling slightly. "I'm unarmed, here!"

"And whose fault is that?" she asked him, continuing to press her feet to his legs. Maybe it would help cool him down too - she could see the water behind him begin to boil. It needed to be attended to.

Ringabel could hear it, and with a grumble, he pulled away from her, glancing over his shoulder. "You started it," he claimed.

Edea giggled. She couldn't help it. "You said that last night, too."

Ringabel shot her a grin. "And course I meant it. I meant all that I said."

Before his words sank in, he was turning away to pull the boiling pot off the fire. She watched him as he then crossed the room to the basin that sat in the middle of the dining area. He'd already heaped snow in there and now he poured the steaming water over the top, melting the snow instantly. Setting the still hot pot aside, he tested the water with a hand.

"It could be warmer," he decided.

Edea joined him, glancing into the basin. It wasn't very deeply filled. "Do you think we should add more?" she asked.

"We'll both be in it, so we shouldn't overfill it," he reminded her. "However... if you want to take this pot and get some snow, I'll grab the other ones. They should be boiling as well."

Edea did as he said, shivering as she opened the back door. It wasn't windy, but the proximity to the wall of snow that trapped them in the cabin was a sobering reminder that they still had the potential for some days of being together. She scooped a bucketful of snow from the wall, noting that it had fallen to just below her shoulder, and shut the door quickly.

Ringabel was coming back with another steaming pot, and he waited for her to dump the snow into the basin. Then he carefully poured the hot water all over the new addition, taking care not to splash either of them. Edea tested the water for him.

"Maybe one more," she decided. "Without snow." It was bringing down the temperature, and he'd used a lot of it earlier. It was just on one side of lukewarm.

Ringabel filled up both pots with snow, passing them off to her. They only had the two empty ones - the third held their food. Edea glanced a look down into it as she placed the other ones back on the stove. The leftover stew smelled good.

"How can you stand to be in front of the door like that?" she asked, curious. His nipples were hard, but his cock - earlier she'd felt his hardness, but now it was limp again from the exposure.

He turned to her, seemingly amused. "It's not that bad; I've felt worse. Are you saying you're cold?"

As he spoke, his hands came up to cradle her breasts. Her nipples were also painfully stiff in the cold air, aching even as his palms covered them. She resisted the urge to sigh.

"Just because we.... slept together-" she decided on as her hands came up to grab his wrists, "-doesn't mean that you can touch me without permission."

Ringabel's hazel eyes widened, shocked. "O-of course, you're right, I - forgive me," he said, as he tried to pull his hands away. But she held him fast in her grip, keeping him in place. He _was_  keeping her warm, after all.

"Say please," she said, and his fingers flexed.

"Please," he whispered. His cheeks were turning red, the color spread up to the tips of his ears.

"Please what?" Edea teased him, enjoying that flush on his face. Now it was going down his neck, splotchy and vivid. It wasn't a bad look, coupled with his stubble.

Ringabel's eyes were glancing over her form, resting on her breasts (and his hands), then up to her face. Their eyes met. His were shiny.

"Please, may I touch you," he managed to get out.

She closed her eyes and considered it. Would it be worth it to continue to tease him? Could he take it? Could she take it?

"Alright," she said, releasing her grip. She felt his hands fall back. "I suppo-oh…" Her words trailed off into a breathy moan, her eyes opening as she felt Ringabel take a nipple into his mouth. When their eyes met this time, his were just as shiny as before, but she could see the mirth in them.

He was suckling, his tongue curled around the underside of the stiff nub. It was still hard, but heating up quickly in his mouth. His hand warmed the other nipple, kneading at her flesh with his fingers.

Edea's legs felt weak. Then, she felt her back bump into the counter again, and leaned back against it as Ringabel continued to suck. Her hands tugged at his hair, her head rolling back as she let moans permeate the steamy heat of the kitchen.

When had it become so easy to escalate things to this level? To explore each other with not just hands but with mouths? She whimpered as his free hand slid down to the apex of her legs, his fingers easily finding her heat. Already she was wet, and he made her feel even wetter. The soreness she'd felt earlier was only a memory - the ache that she felt now was eased as he caressed her, two of his fingers entering easily as his thumb caressed her clit.

Edea squirmed, her hips rocking against his touch. She felt trapped against the counter, unable to really touch Ringabel except for his head and shoulders. Even when one of her legs lifted to wrap around his torso, all she could do was lightly scratch her nails across his exposed skin. Ringabel had swiftly taken control from her and she had no idea how! She'd meant it to be her.

If this was what a loss of control felt like, it wasn't so bad.

"Say please," Ringabel said, lifting his head from her nipple. He moved to the other one, drawing his tongue against in in a long, rough lick. He nipped at the tender skin on the side of her breast.

So this is what he was playing at. Edea bit her lip. His fingers had stopped moving, and no matter how much she tried to press herself against his hand, she couldn't get the relief she needed.

"Please." If he wanted to play, she'd play. Knowing him, he couldn't keep this up for long.

"Please what?"

If she wasn't already red, she was certain she'd be blushing now. Her cheeks felt warm, and tight as she looked up at the wooden ceiling. "Please touch me."

He tugged her nipple into his mouth, humming slightly as though considering his options. His fingers didn't move. She squirmed against him. "Please! Ringabel!"

In response, finally, his fingers jerked up into her, and she couldn't swallow the gasp that escaped her as she desperately rolled her hips against him. Her nails dug into his shoulder, scratching across his heated flesh and up the back of his neck as she sought for purchase. Ringabel groaned against her skin, and his hand moved from her breast to grab one of her wrists.

"You're stronger than you look," he complained, licking at the thin of sheen of sweat on her collarbone. Pulling his fingers out of her, he gathered up the edges of the thin blanket. Edea, too dazed with lust to really follow what he was doing, watched as her arms were entrapped in the fabric, as it was wrapped around her - tied tightly behind her shoulders. Only once she realized she could no longer move her arms did she try to flail.

"Ringabel!"

He had leaned back to admire his handiwork. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," he promised.

"That's the least of my worries," she replied, her cheeks hot. He'd managed to keep her breasts exposed, forcing her arms closer to her collarbone. If she really tried, she knew she could probably either tear the fabric or undo the knot and free herself, but then - but then his fingers reached down between her legs again and she forgot to try. Instead, her hips bucked up against him.

"Do you want free? If you truly wish it, just ask me," he said, a small frown on his lips as he watched her squirm.

She wouldn't ask, Edea decided then. Wouldn't give in to him. Instead of saying as such, she leveled him with an intense, deep gaze.

His lips slowly quirked upwards into a knowing smirk. She closed her eyes so that she couldn't have to see it, lifting her leg to press her cold foot into his thigh. He nudged her foot aside and leaned closer to her, pressing his form against hers.

Edea expected him to lift her up and put her on the counter again. Or maybe he'd enter her and relieve the ache that his fingers had drawn out with a good pounding. Instead, he continued to caress her heated center with his digits only, his thumb drawing little circles around her inflamed clit. Two of his fingers had slipped into her sex easily and now they curled in her, rubbing at her inner walls. Pleasure spiked behind her clit, sending heat through her belly.

His non-dominant hand was caressing her breast again, his fingers twisting and tugging at her swollen, sensitive nipple. His mouth was an inferno on her other breast, suckling hungrily on her nipple, his lips surrounding it entirely. She tried to control herself, keep from arching up into his touch, but couldn't quite achieve it. Her hips bucked and rolled against his hand, drawing his fingers deeper into her core. He added a third.

There was a peculiar sort of burn at the sensation of being stretched and she held herself still, her legs opened wide, feet planted on the ground as she tried to get used to it. His thumb rubbed reassuringly gentle circles across her clit, flicking at the enlarged bud now and then as her muscles squeezed the rest of his fingers. She felt him kiss the curve of her breast, nipping at the skin right next to her nipple, and she groaned out his name, lifting her hips again. It - it wasn't so bad. Bigger than his cock had been, for sure, but not unpleasant. Ringabel started a rhythm again, his fingers drawing in and out of her, thrusting as his thumb continued to stroke at her. The more he moved, the better it felt, and soon the coil of pleasure that had been wounding up right behind her clit was tight and so sharp that it brought tears to her eyes. He tugged her nipple back into his mouth and suckled again as he continued to caress her, working quickly despite all the squirming and bucking of the woman below him.

She'd been moaning for some time now, wordlessly begging him for more as she arduously climbed up the peak of pleasure. Now, nothing but shrieks spilled from her lips as she hovered right on the precipice. Ringabel's fingers were twisting in her, his thumb was practically torture against a sensitive and aching clit. His mouth was so good that it hurt, tugging hungrily at her nipple with his tongue and lips. His other hand, wet from sweat, had taken to tugging her nipple, twisting it between his middle finger and thumb. It was so many sensations at once that she couldn't focus on anything but how they spiraled down into the core of her being, building up on one another. Then, just as her toes began to curl with delight, he crooked his index finger inside her and stroked something that felt so good she jumped. He seemed to notice.

As he chased that, his fingers crooking deliberately once more to rub against that spot inside of her, Edea lost herself to the coil of heat in her belly, gasping as it flew apart, taking her with it. She came hard, her fluids squirting into his palm and pattering to the floor below as her body shuddered and jerked. Her inner muscles clenched tight around his hand, keeping him place as her hips rolled wildly - despite that, he continued to caress her, keep her going through the orgasm. She couldn't stop the moan that ripped from her chest, filling the steamy air of the kitchen as she arched into his mouth, her legs going tense around his own.

For long moments, her breath was caught in her throat as pleasure coursed through her unlike anything she'd known before. Then… it was over and she sagged, her knees going weak. Only the man that was above her, his weight pressing her to the counter, kept her from falling to the floor.

When she became aware of what was going on, she realized Ringabel was pressing kisses to the flat center of her chest between her breasts. He'd slipped his hand out and now he grasped her waist with both of them, gentle and careful.

She tried to swallow to speak, but her mouth and throat were dry and raw. Running her tongue along the inside of her mouth, gasping for air, she finally managed to whimper the name of her lover.

He cradled her head, and lifted it up enough to kiss her forehead. "Are you alright?" he asked, peppering further kisses across her face.

She licked dry lips, and met his eyes with her own. It was hard to focus on them, on the love and gentleness she could see. "Mmm," she replied, leaning up to kiss him.

His tongue entered her mouth easily, sweeping around it before curling around her own tongue. Edea sighed into the kiss, tender and deep as it was. As they kissed, their mouths molding together, she felt him grasp her rear and lift her up onto the counter so that she no longer had to stand. That was better.

When they parted, it was because of the sound of boiling water behind them. Ringabel glanced over behind his shoulder. "I should tend to that."

His saliva had wet her mouth and throat. Edea licked her lips again. "You should tend to your dick," she pointed out. She could feel his erection against her thigh; it had been there a while.

He flushed, eyes darting down to her. "How do you propose I do that?"

"My arms are still tied," she pointed out, lifting them in demonstration. "Just fuck me, Ringabel. You know you want to."

He stammered a bit at her verbiage, but there was no denying it. Edea sighed as Ringabel guided himself in with one hand, their hips meeting. Her body accepted him eagerly, and she spread her thighs so that he could grasp them with his hands, exposing her to him. Edea purred as he started thrusting, quick and deep.

Sweat dripped down his forehead as he concentrated on his deep strokes, his hips meeting hers loudly, obscenely. The noise made her flush, almost as much as her inability to move did, and she shifted slightly.  He noticed her embarrassment.

"What's wrong?" he asked, voice tight with barely restrained need.

"Nothing," she assured him, wishing she could touch his face. "It's just… a little dirty. The noise."

His eyebrow raised, and a smile tugged at his lips. "Just the noise? You don't mind that you're trussed up like a prized animal with your legs wide open?"

"No, that's fine."

"Hmm," he trailed off in thought, his thrusts slowing. Then, before she could ask what he was up to, she felt him slip out. Glancing down the length of her body the best she could with her arms kind of in the way, she could see him run his hands down her thighs and lean back to think.

The water still boiled, steam rising in the air behind him.

"Hurry," she said, not only because of the water, but because she'd been enjoying him.

"How about if I do this?" Ringabel asked, and she wanted to ask him _what_ , but in the next moment he'd grabbed her hips and rolled her over until she was on her stomach, arms and breasts pressing into the old wooden counter. Thankfully, it had long been polished smooth, with no chance of splinters. Her hips on the counter as they were meant that her legs dangled in the air, though if she stretched she thought her toes could brush the floor.

"Riinga - what are you - oh, ohh…" her question trailed off into a moan as he entered her from behind, his cock easily slipping into her wet sex.His hands firm on her hips, Ringabel pulled her closer to him.

"I'll hurry," he promised, and then he was _fucking_  her, the sound of their bodies meeting reaching her ears. It was wet, and loud, and _dirty_ , and Edea closed her eyes as she was thrust into the counter over and over again. The wood rubbed against her still sensitive nipples, urging her to potentially another orgasm as Ringabel plowed her from behind. Her legs spread and attempted to hook back behind his knees, but for the most part she was powerless as he drove into her.

She kept her mouth shut this time, breathing out through her nose as heat built in her core, spurred on by the roughness of his strokes and the way that her nipples were assaulted by the wood. Ringabel's fingers flexed on her hips as he kept up his quick pace, and he was quiet as well; she could hear only the sound of his panting, and quiet little moans.

How long they were joined, she wasn't sure - she had long since lost her concept of time. But pleasure, warmth, was spreading all over her body, from her toes to behind her eyes, causing her to scrunch them, and all too soon Ringabel was coming, pressing himself deeply into her, his breath catching and legs going tight. She could feel warmth that was not her own blossoming in her sex, and Ringabel was still as he drained into her. Edea trembled.

Then she felt him relax, and his cock slipped out easily, their combined come dripping onto the floor underneath her feet. It trailed wetly down her thighs, and she squirmed uncomfortably. She needed that bath sooner rather than later.

Ringabel left her there on the counter and turned to take the pot off the fire.

She kicked, then realized that she had the potential to kick a man holding a pot of boiling water, and stilled. "Don't leave me here!" she called, rolling over so that she could see what was happening over her shoulder; her arms weren't restrained enough that she couldn't push herself up. Ringabel had, by now, already carried the pot of water and was pouring it into the basin. Steam rose from it, and he tested it before returning for the second pot of water. This time, only a portion of the water went in.

"Is it ready?" she asked, shifting slightly. She was very aware of how dirty she really was now.

"I think so," he replied, coming back to her, and swiftly going to work on the knot behind her neck. Once it was undone, she tugged the blanket off her arms and pushed herself fully off the counter, carefully, to make sure her feet hit the floor the right way. Ringabel steadied her with a gentle hand.

She gave him a quick tap on the chest with a fist. "Next time in a _bed_ , Ringabel!" she said, noticing the way he smirked. "You have to clean up the mess now. _I'm_  going to take a bath." His grin fell.

"I thought you said we could take a bath together," he pointed out, pouting.

"That was before you made a mess," she countered, pointing out the droplets all over the kitchen floor. "Clean it up before it stains and… maybe I'll let you join me."

Ringabel had no good answer for that, and so she left him to it, crossing the room so that she could approach the wash basin. The water was still steaming, and she cautiously tested it with a finger - it was hot, but not too hot. She'd have to brace herself, but such heat soothe her taxed muscles and she'd get used to it, in time.

Sinking into the water, Edea stretched her legs as she leaned back against the wooden lip. Ringabel had disappeared from view in the kitchen, probably scrubbing the floor, but she watched for him anyway as she let the heat seep into her body. It was a different sort of warmth from what she'd felt earlier, less urgent and more soothing, and very much wanted.

When he finally popped his head back up and tossed a dirty dishrag into the sink, Edea beckoned him. "Come on, come get warm."

She had to get up, at least somewhat, so that Ringabel could sit underneath her. Water sloshed onto the floor, both due to his movements and because of displacement, but Edea paid it no mind as she leaned back against his chest. The basin really wasn't large enough to fit both of them, but she could sit on his lap at least, even if her legs had to dangle over the sides. Ringabel ran his hands up them, then down her thighs to her center.

"What did I say about asking?" she said irritably as she stopped his hands with her own.

"Can I please touch you?" he asked automatically.

"Not right now," she answered. "I'm still … sensitive from earlier." To say the least. She contemplated another Cure.

"Alright," he agreed, and his hands settled on her thighs. "I'm sorry -  I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know, and you didn't hurt me," she clarified, leaning her head back onto his shoulder so that she could sort of see his face. "You're just… enthusiastic." That was the word, she decided.

His cheeks were red and she doubted it was just from the heat of the water. "Of course I am. It's you, after all."

She… wasn't going to ask him what that meant. Instead, she tried to change the topic. "Have you always been like this?"

"Been like… what?" he asked, confused.

"Like this, when you're having… having sex," she said, mumbling her words even as she gestured with a hand. She'd thought she could handle having a frank conversation with him about their new sex life, but some of it was still a little beyond her.

Ringabel made a small noise. "You know you were my first."

She had made a comment like that, hadn't she? At the time, it had been to taunt him, but then he, and his hands, had made her quiver like nothing else and she'd thought that was a little suspect for a man who'd never been with anyone before. "Then what romance novels do _you_  read?" she asked now, lifting her brow at him.

"Very good ones! Romantic ones," he retorted, but he was still blushing. "They're not dirty. At least, not all of them."

She hummed to herself. "I'll borrow some when we get back," she said.

"Then I'll need to pick out the best ones for you."

Smiling, she settled back against his chest, resting her head against his shoulder. Ringabel's hands slipped under what little water he could reach, and he lifted handfuls of water over their legs and stomachs. It was appreciated; even though he had started the fire again earlier, the air had that ever present chill about it. Somehow, she liked this newfound closeness with him more than the actual sex itself; she wasn't sure she would consider herself an overly touchy person, not in the way that Ringabel was. Likely due to his upbringing, Ringabel just… liked to touch people. Not touch people in perverted ways, usually, but leaning on others, touching their arms, or shoulders, and being touched in return. He liked to hug, which was good, because she did too.

Touching him now in this new way, with their bodies so close, was a new experience for them both, and one she was surprisingly enjoying. And she knew Ringabel loved it. She could see it in the joy in his eyes when he was able to freely run a hand up her side, or when she pressed her own hands against his chest, and by the smile on his face now as he dripped hot water over them both.

Edea snuggled, turning slightly into him, closing her eyes. She heard - and felt - him laugh, and one of his arms wrapped around her waist. His other hand cradled her head to him, his fingers running through her hair. She kissed his shoulder; he kissed her forehead in turn.

This was more intimate than anything they'd done in the past couple of days, and it was _this_  that filled her heart with warmth instead of just her body. Sighing to herself, she kissed his neck now, turning slightly into his embrace. The smallness of the basin meant she couldn't quite straddle him, but she could at least press herself to him and seek kisses. His lips pressed against her temple, gentle.

"Mmm," she said, turning her face up to him. His short fingernails scratched in small circles at the nape of her neck, making her sleepy. Still, she could kiss along his scratchy jaw, scraping with her teeth.

Ringabel let out a noise of his own, and in the next instance, he had pressed his lips to hers. Edea kissed him back as he all but clung to her, the two of them clutching each other tightly. His mouth was warm, just as heated as the water around them, and that heat permeated into her thoughts, covering her with a haze.

When they broke apart, it was because her back was protesting the awkward position, and because she felt dizzy from the heat. With a soft grumble, she fell back against him, stretching her legs.

"We should get out… I think we're clean."

She felt clean, at least. And so warm that all she wanted to do was roll around in bed. Ringabel had to help her stand, his hands pushing up at her thighs and steadying her as she clambered out of the basin. As she did, she felt - and heard - her stomach grumble.

Scratch that, all she wanted to do was eat and _then_  roll around in bed.

"We haven't eaten yet," Ringabel commented, amused. "I'm surprised you didn't say anything before."

"I had other things on my mind," she replied, waving a hand. Getting clean had been the priority. The food wasn't running away! They'd already killed it and everything.

She left him to find his own way out of the basin, wrapping a towel around herself. It was one of the same towels she'd used just the other day, but they weren't exactly in abundance in the cabin, after all. Not bothering to wait for him to get out and dry down, she headed into the kitchen to check on their food.

Ringabel had pulled the pot of leftovers onto the fire once the pots of water were done, and now it was warmed nicely, almost bubbling. Edea stirred it with a spoon, taking a deep breath and ignoring the deeper grumble of her belly. She could eat it out of the pot if he'd let her. Instead, she reached for the bowls.

"When we get out of here," she said to him as she served herself. "What restaurant will you take me to first?"

Towel secured around his hips, Ringabel came into the kitchen to eat. Edea decided after a moment, to serve him soup as well, ladleing in enough to keep him well-energized for at least a few hours.

"I was thinking a steakhouse? There's one in the sixth district that sells steak in beef stew instead of other cuts. I've heard it's very filling, and they have hot desserts as well like fresh pie."

"Oh, that sounds good," she replied, trying not to salivate at the thought of good beef. The dried pieces of meat in their bowls was a paltry imitation, along with the dry, preserved vegetables. Her stomach grumbled, and she stuffed a spoonful into her mouth. No more talking! Just eating!

Ringabel ate as well, at a much slower pace than her own. She thought this was because he was smiling at her, watching her almost a little creepily. Even though they hadn't actually bathed, with the two of them attempting to keep their hair as dry as possible, they were still mostly naked, and despite the steam in the air from the earlier fires, it was beginning to get chilly. He could tell it seemed, through the thickness of the towel, judging by the way his eyes lingered.

She turned away from him and he laughed.

"Edea!" he said pleadingly.

"I'm eating here," she grumped through a full mouth. "Where are your manners?"

"You know where they went," he replied, but fell silent. She could hear him eating and focused on her own meal.

One bowl wasn't enough. Edea went back for another, scraping the bottom of the pot. Glancing up at Ringabel, she felt a stab of guilt. He was eating less and less, even though she knew for a fact that he was using just as much energy as she was.

"We should get dinner ready," she said.

Ringabel set down his empty bowl, the sides scraped clean. "That's a good idea," he replied. "I'll start it - you cooked yesterday, after all."

She left him to it, going back to the dining room and finishing up her bowl as Ringabel scrounged up potatoes from a threadbare sack. Though, as she watched him dump the potatoes in the sink and start cutting them, she had to comment.

"Put some clothes on."

He looked up at her, arrogant and amused. "Why? Don't you like the view?" He flexed.

She gagged. "It's fine, you're fine. But I'm expecting you to have an unfortunate mishap with that knife any moment now."

It took him a moment to understand, but when he did, he cringed and set the knife down on the counter. "I'll be careful," he promised.

"You do realize that if there's an accident, it's just me. We might have White Magic, but I'm no White Mage."

He grumbled, somewhat pale at the very idea. "You just warn me now because you finally have some uses for it."

She laughed at that, loudly and probably obnoxiously. "Well, yeah! I have to defend my property!"

Ringabel squinted at her. "Your property? It's mine!"

"Please. We all know you weren't using it properly. Now go on put on some pants."

And she would put on his shirt in exchange. The two of them dressed quickly, tugging on just enough clothing to cover the important things. Once that was done, Edea climbed back into bed to wait for Ringabel to cook dinner.

"Oh sure," he commented from the kitchen. "Make me do all the hard work!"

She stretched out on the mattress. "You're fine. Hey, get me something to drink too. I'm thirsty." Drinking water meant they had to melt snow and wait for it to get relatively warm before consumption. She heard the sounds of Ringabel banging around in the kitchen as he scooped up another pot full of snow and put it on to heat. Then, just as she started doze off out of boredom, he reappeared from behind the other side of the screen. He placed a metal mug on the night stand and fell onto the mattress beside her. She rolled over to make room for his long limbs.

"You're not tired," she said, poking his bare shoulder.

He propped himself up on one elbow. "No, I'm not," he confessed. "Surprisingly. I thought I'd be exhausted after yesterday."

She folded her arms underneath her head. "Maybe it's because you slept really well. You know, you're normally sort of a light sleeper. But yesterday when you fell asleep after… you know, you really seemed out of it."

"That may be it," he admitted. "And perhaps I slept very well because of a certain someone." He flashed her a bright, beaming smile.

She tried to ignore the little flip-flop her stomach did.  "So? Do you want to stay another night?"

Ringabel looked over toward the backdoor, just a few feet away. "We could…" he said slowly. "The snow is melting, but it's still rather high. It won't hurt to wait another day. We have enough supplies for it."

After that though, she was't sure she'd be able to survive much longer. She needed fresh air and sunlight and a chance to kick the ass of something that wasn't Ringabel. It wasn't as fun if it was him; he just wasn't a challenge anymore and now it seemed more likely they'd just stay in bed. And the more she rolled around in bed with them, the more that...

"Mmm," was all she said, and she rolled over a little to lean against him. He wrapped an arm around her. His shirt wasn't substantial at all; Edea could feel his warmth permeating through it, heating her. Sitting up, she moved to straddle his thighs.

"How long do you think it'll take for dinner to cook?" she asked, cocking her head at him.

Ringabel's hands rested on her hips. "I just started it, so… a few hours, probably. At least, for the meat and beans to get tender. I'll have to let them simmer for some time." He made a face. "When we get back to Eternia, we really need to talk them into sending better supplies. I know they need items that can be stored well, but this is a bit much."

She stretched, humming thoughtfully. "There's a lot we need to do for this village," she agreed. She knew her father had done what he could from Central Command, and perhaps he was too afraid to rebuild, but seeing the graveyard was too much. It needed people beyond these old men, who would one day, eventually leave one way or another. And then what would happen to the history of the village?

Moving over, she rested her head on Ringabel's shoulder. He wound one of his arms around her, holding tight. She fully expected him to make a move, but he said and did nothing, looking up at the ceiling. Glancing up at his face, she could see him worrying at his bottom lip, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

He glanced down at her. "I was thinking that we need to find some way to preserve the history of this town before it's too late. I know … it's hard for the Grand Marshal, to see his former home reduced to this, and the caretakers are doing what they can. But life can return to the village if it's allowed."

Ringabel thinking such deep things were unex - she chastised herself for the thought before it finished. "How do you want to do that?" she proposed.

"First thing is that we need to work on rebuilding some of the cabins," Ringabel said dryly. "They're drafty, and I noticed a leak in parts of this one, especially in the bathroom. We need to make it comfortable for people to live here, starting with the men that have made it their life's work to retain its legacy.

"Then, we need to get people to come here. I imagine it will mostly be men, or childless couples at first. But they can start rebuilding, start an economy here. I wonder what their primary source of income was, here?"

"It… was probably the trees. Wood, or wood craft," Edea admitted. "I heard there used to be a large forest on the mountains, but around the time the plague struck, there was a fire that decimated most of it."

His brows furrowed. "I see." She saw him open his mouth, think better of it, and then roll over to face her. Her nose squished into his shoulder, and she squeaked.

"What plans do you have?" he asked her, hand at her hip. She could feel his fingers begin to inch up the fabric of the top and slapped at his hand.

"It's the same as yours. Get people here. Get rebuilding. Talk to my father."

"Your father?"

"Yeah. I think he has some ideas, too. And my mother as well. Their families lived here, after all."

She took a deep breath and yawned right into Ringabel's face. He grimaced.

"You need to brush your teeth."

"You didn't complain last night," she pointed out, snuggling further into his embrace with a soft noise. He lifted his chin up slightly so she could tuck her head under. Edea liked this… the closeness that she had with him now. Cuddling with him was nice, when he was nice and fresh smelling, at least. It was something she had made a habit of before, for more than one reason, but since all barriers between them had come down, it was natural.

Ringabel's arms wrapped easily around her, the man clinging more than a little bit. He was somewhat touched-starved, likely due to his upbringing. It was something she'd observed a long time ago, based on the way that he'd give little touches to everyone now and then - pats on the shoulder or back, nudges with an elbow. It had been annoying at first, and she'd elbowed him for it before more than once. Now, she didn't mind so much.

They lay in the bed for a while, saying nothing. Edea was aware of the way that Ringabel rubbed at her back now and then, and in return she gave him light scratches with her nails along his shoulder blades.

It… was boring. Edea sighed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

It was boring enough that she was tempted - almost - to try and dig their way out. But then she lifted her head and saw him smiling at her and - one more day. Yeah.

"I'm bored," she said, and hooked one leg over his. In the same moment, she pushed back against his chest so that he would lay on his back, taking her with him. Ringabel laughed as they rolled over until she was straddling his hips.

"A bored Edea is a dangerous one," he teased. "I'm glad we don't have much here for you to experiment with. Can you imagine?"

"What kind of experiments?"

"Cooking, mostly, if we had more ingredients available," Ringabel mused. His fingers flexed against her hips. "And, if there was more than just our swords here, we could also experiment with more fighting styles. It's been a while since you've been a true mage. Or.. well, anything, really."

She rocked slightly on him as she thought, ignoring the way he bit his lip. "We can still experiment," she thought.

"Oh? How so?" he asked through slightly gritted teeth as she moved again.

"With each other, of course." She laughed at the look on his face, one of both fear and wonder. "I'm kidding. Mostly," she added. Then she shrieked as Ringabel's hands darted up her sides, tickling her suddenly.

Taken terribly off guard, she didn't put up much of a fight as Ringabel rolled them over, pinning her to the mattress. She was too busy attempting to defend herself from his fingers they danced over her most ticklish spots, but he was taking advantage of his longer arms. Unfair!

Finally, Ringabel eased up and she panted for breath, twitching slightly and clenching her fist. She'd punch him if he did that again, she decided, but he seemed to notice the fist and sat back. In the squirming and tickling, the top that she wore had ridden up to high on her stomach, only just barely concealing her breasts. When she saw him reach out to her heaving her stomach, she swung weakly. He caught her hand easily.

"I won't tickle you again," he promised, and his palm was gentle when he touched her stomach.  "I'm sorry. Was that a bit much?"

"A little," she groused. "I'm going to get you back, just watch." Yeah, the instant he put his guard down, she'd tie his hands together and tickle him until he screamed for mercy.

He grinned. "I'll be waiting." His grin faded as he looked her over, considering.

Edea closed her eyes as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'm still bored," she said, when his lips ghosted over her nose next. "And cold."

He was smiling when their lips met. "Very well, my dear. I shall keep you warm. And entertained, I suppose."

She pushed at his shoulder to make him sit back. "I want to be on top this time," she said, already reaching for his pants to get them off. He'd worn them long enough.

"As you wish," he replied, lifting his hips just enough so that she could shove his pants off his thighs and to his legs. As he worked on kicking them over the edge of the bed, she took the opportunity to shuck the top off and grab one of the blankets that lay over the end of the bed for cover. When Ringabel sat cross legged on the bed, she sat on his lap, hooking her own legs behind him, and draped the blanket easily around their shoulders.

"No funny business," she warned him as she leaned against him, her fingers slipping down his stomach until she felt the trail of downy hair that led to his groin. She made a face at the thought that slipped into her mind; Ringabel was so vain he probably groomed _everywhere_  and not just his face. No wonder she'd never noticed until now, despite the sometimes horrifyingly-skimpy outfits he wore.

"Do I want to ask?" Ringabel said, laughing uneasily. His own hands were cradling her behind, slipping down past her rear to caress her from behind.

"No. Now be quiet," she commanded as she wrapped her hand around him and tugged. He bit his lip to keep any noise from slipping out, though she felt him shift and inhale deeply. His fingers caressed the edges of her sex, gentle and questing against the heat there. They slipped with very little effort into her folds and further into her entrance where she could feel him twist two fingers around, thrusting gently.

Not to be outdone, she stroked him firmly, twisting her wrist as she came up each time. His dick was hot, and dry but firming up in her fingertips with every passing moment. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and ducked his head against her neck, pressing his lips against her pulse to muffle his groan. Edea sighed, squeezing him gently for a long moment before wiggling closer.

It took a bit of repositioning, but the end result was that she was able to slide down onto his full length, covering his lap. The angle was… a little weird. Different. Edea shifted, rolling her hips back and forward. She and Ringabel were so close that their stomachs and chests both touched, and he was keeping her closer with a firm grip on her hips as he rocked up to meet her.

The blanket wrapped around them, she found quickly that it was almost too warm as they moved together. Heat build up, slowly, not only around them but inside of her, coiling deep in her belly. She clung to Ringabel as his lips caressed her neck and shoulder, the man peppering kisses across whatever skin he could reach. Her eyelids felt heavier as time wore on, pure contentment boiling up. She lost of track of time, seconds and minutes blurring together like their joined heartbeats. She lost track of _herself_ , where she ended and he began, their breathes mingling.

That heaviness was spreading throughout her entire body, thick and warm. It made her toes and fingers curl, and as they did, her nails dug into the tight muscle of Ringabel's upper back. She heard him laugh.

"Don't," she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. Don't ruin the mood.

He lifted his head to suck her ear, his tongue curling along the shell, and his breath edged against the sweat-dampened hair that was stuck to her temple. "I won't," he said, so low that she almost couldn't hear it through the thundering that was their combined pulse. It rushed through her, from head to toe, throbbing particularly between her legs.

"You are," she replied, almost whimpering. Her nails dug into his muscle, and she felt him tense, the man letting out a long groan of pain.

"Edea," he gasped when he could. "I - "

Ughhh, whatever he wanted to say, she didn't want to hear. She'd told him as such. Turning her head, she kissed him roughly, cutting him off and banging their foreheads together. Her tongue thrust deep, scraping against his teeth and poking him right in the back of the throat. He choked and for a moment she worried before he was kissing her back, his mouth bruising and tongue rough. She coughed, trying to turn away, but he kept the contact between them, one of his hand moving up to cradle the back of her head and keep her in place. As she struggled to breathe, gasping desperately against his lips, she dug her nails in until she felt something hot and wet slick against her fingertips.

Their control shattered.

Ringabel's arm tightened around her waist, and he broke the kiss so that he could bury his face into her neck. Edea let her head fall back so that she could take in lungfuls of air, gasping. Then in the next moment, soft cries of pleasure spilled from her lips as he hammered up into her, lifting himself slightly off the bed for leverage. Each thrust was quick and hard, eager, and she squeezed her eyes shut; his cock was rubbing against her clit with each pass and it felt so good, too good, and everything was tightening and twisting and -

She came undone. Her hands, slick with sweat and blood, slipped down his back and she scrambled for some sort of purchase even as her orgasm coursed through her, white hot and rippling. She shivered and bucked in his arms, only vaguely aware of his answering shout and the way he held her tight.

Time passed.

When she came back into herself, she felt like her entire body felt wound up and tight, like some sort of spring. She tried to unwind herself from where she was clenching around Ringabel but it was… difficult. He was still pressed to her, his head resting on her shoulder, and they could only breathe together as they both slowly, slowly relaxed.

... It was way, way too warm. Edea pushed at his chest, and when he leaned away, he blinked at owlishly at her. His eyes were unfocused, heavy-lidded.  When she pushed harder, he fell back to the bed, the blanket cocoon breaking and letting in fresh air.

Cold air.

She wrapped her arms around her chest as the cold cut through the haze that had surrounded her since they'd joined. Ringabel winced, pushing at her thighs with his hands as he unfolded stiff legs.

"I… think I need to clean up again, she said, trying to slip off him and stumbling. Only his hands kept her from falling forward onto his chest. But she was covered in sweat and her fingers were bloody, and her thighs felt sticky and _wet_.

"You do that," he said, his eyelashes fluttering as he fought to stay awake. "I'll stay here and keep the bed warm."

There was a towel nearby; Ringabel had discarded it on the floor when he'd changed into his pants. As she managed to slide off the bed without tumbling to the ground, she picked it up with shaky fingers and tossed it on his face. "You have to clean up a little," she demanded as he slowly plucked it off his head to stare at it. It was still damp. "I'm not getting into bed with a dirty man."

In response, he made only a small noise and rolled over to his side, starting to wipe himself down. Edea made a face at the spots of blood left over on the quilt. "And I'll heal your back when I come back," she promised, leaning heavily on the bed as she stood. Her knees felt weak.

She managed to make it to the basin of water that stood in the middle of the room. They hadn't emptied it, so the water was perhaps only a few degrees above freezing. Hissing to herself as she kneeled in it, waking up out of her haze nearly immediately, she wasted no time in splashing the cold water over her thighs and stomach to cleanse the worst of the sweat and fluids from her body. Her thighs still felt sore and her stomach still twisted as she finished, but at least she was… relatively clean and no longer feeling as heated as she had moments ago.

Stumbling back over to the bed, she barely managed to climb back into it before collapsing on Ringabel. He grunted and wrapped an arm around her to pull her close, hissing slightly as his back muscles moved.

"Oh right," Edea said, and in the next minute she was casting Cure to fix those pesky scratches she'd led on his back. "Sorry about that."

He made a soft noise, but was already half-asleep, his head turned slightly away. Edea kicked away the blanket they had been cocooned in away; it was way too heavy and smelled like sex, besides. There was another one close by, a bit thinner but just as good. Wiggling to try and pull it up without having to actually sit up herself (and ignoring Ringabel's pitiful whines), she finally managed to hook it into her toes and yank it up far enough so that she could grab it and cover them with it.

"Do I have to do everything around here?" she jokingly complained as she settled back against his shoulder.

He did not open his eyes, but smiled, his head tilting slightly in her direction. "I love you."

She held her breath. Timing! "Go to sleep," she told him after a minute, her words sharp but her voice soft as she tucked the blanket into his side. He let out another soft noise, frowning slightly. "We'll eat when you wake up."

He didn't fuss. Instead, he turned his head slightly to the side, and within moments she could feel his breathing evening out. The tension in his form began to melt, his limbs relaxing, and his hold on her loosening.

Edea tucked her head against his chest, but despite her orgasm, the cold water had woken her up enough that sleep wasn't going to come easily. Not to mention his confession! When he woke up, they were going to have to have another talk about timing and location and how to judge appropriateness of both!

The more she lay in his arms, because it was there that she felt the warmest and the safest and the most comfortable, the more she kept dwelling on what he'd said. She _knew_  how he felt; that wasn't exactly a mystery, and his actions had spoken louder than any words could. But still, to hear him say it so brazenly aloud, when they were alone together?

Mrgrgr.

She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into his shoulder. She needed a nap so that she didn't have to think about it anymore. She could just _will_  herself to sleep. But before she did… "I love you too," she mumbled into his skin, hoping it would ease some of the ache in her chest.

… feeling lighter, she closed her eyes and drifted off.

Edea woke to the smell of burning.

For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was. The remnants of a dream hovered at her mind, hazy and white, but slipping away. The burning smell was one that made her stomach churn, but where was it coming from…? The woods…? Or, no...

It hit her in an instant and she scrambled out of bed, rudely shoving her hand into Ringabel's stomach as she did so. The man woke with a start and a shout.

"Wh-what?"

"You left the stove on!" Edea hissed as she grabbed his top and pulled it on. Then, as an afterthought, she yanked on her leggings, stumbling.

"I told you I did," he said, confused. "It's cooking."

How long had they been asleep? Leaving Ringabel behind, she darted out into the kitchen, where an acrid smell was rising from the stove. To her relief, there was no thick smoke, nor any fire where it shouldn't be. The food had just cooked down into thick, brown sludge that smelled _awful_.

Ringabel joined her as she dumped the leftover water in the other pot into what was supposed to be their dinner. They silently watched the plume of smoke rise from the stew.

"Is it salvageable?" he asked, grabbing a wooden spoon to stir the remains with.  He'd grabbed his pants but as she had made off with his top, and he couldn't fit into hers, his upper half was bare.

Edea groaned as she took the spoon from him to assess the mess. "It's… probably edible," she decided after poking the stew a bit. They didn't have enough edible, non-spoiled food supplies to throw out an entire pot unless they wanted to eat just beans for the next night. "Maybe if we add more potatoes? At least the meat should be fine." They both liked their meat slightly charred. Everything else, she wasn't sure.

With a sigh, Ringabel picked up a knife to prepare more potatoes. Edea decided that once they left the cabin, she wasn't eating any potatoes for a week. Cookies were a starch, right?

She attempted to fix what she could, picking out the worst of the burnt food, and covering the entire pot liberally with spices, especially chilli pepper. Maybe if they cooked their taste buds off, the rest wouldn't matter. The end result was a pot that bubbled ominously, bright red. Black in some places.

Ringabel took one look at it and shook his head. "I'm not eating that."

"You don't want my cooking?" she squinted at him. "How will you ever live with me if you can't eat my home-cooked meals?"

He went back to picking potatoes out of the burlap sack, salvaging as many as possible by cutting off parts that had sprouted. "That's not a home-cooked meal. That's a health hazard."

"We don't need any more potatoes here," she said, giving the pot a good stir. It threatened to spill over the sides, as full as it was. Maybe she should turn off the heat.

"Can't we bake the potatoes, then?" he complained, weighing a few in his hands as he began to poke holes in them. "That'll be filling without potentially tearing a hole in our insides!"

That… that was brilliant. Edea stared at him, considering. "You think we can?"

"I know we can," he said, grinning now. "We did it when we younger, you remember!"

Those had been yams, she thought, but the basic premise was there. Put them on the fire, wait for them to cook and pull them out. Her favorite part had been handling a yam that was still warm, almost too hot to touch. The warmth had been wonderful in her fingers, given Eternia's climate.

"I'm going to let this cook down anyway," she decided, but nodded. "Why can't we eat both?"

"You can eat both. I would like to die of old age."

Such confidence. She stuck her tongue at him as she stuck the lid back on the pot and turned the heat down as low as it could go. Then, she helped him carry potatoes over to the wood stove in the living room, and they carefully piled them to the side, away from the direct flame.

Once done, she sat back on the couch, watching the fire as he fed it with some more wood. As soon as he joined her, his arm winding around her shoulders, she twisted round so that she could put her legs on his lap.

"Ringabel," she said, winding her arms around his shoulders so that she didn't fall. "What did you expect would happen when we got snowed in?" She was curious.

He had to take a moment to think, tilting his head slightly. "Well, first of all, I wanted to be sure you would be safe. So long as we had plentiful supplies, I knew we would be able to last through the snowstorm and perhaps a day or two of being snowed in. I didn't expect to be buried in the snow like this."

"And? What else after?"

"I don't relish being confined anymore than you do," he reminded her with a crooked smile. "I expected to be bored, or that we might quickly end up at each other's throats."

So he hadn't come into this intending to seduce her, for once.  Edea leaned against him. She could already smell the potatoes beginning to cook, and her stomach grumbled. "What do you think is going to happen when we get back?"

"We're going to take showers and I'm going to shave," he declared. "And style my hair, of course. I hope I haven't forgotten how."

"Ringabel!"

He laughed, and moved away from the elbow she was digging into his ribs. "I suspect we'll need some time alone. Truly alone, away from each other. You're my dear… my _dear_ , but these are close quarters, even for me. If you keep seeing me like this, you may forget how handsome I am!"

She rolled her eyes. "You're fine the way you are, Ringabel." She ran her finger along his chin to feel the scratchiness of his stubble. It was so light it was barely visible. She couldn't believe blonde hair this pale was his natural color, but it was. She knew that better than anyone now.

He lifted his chin, closing one eye, as though he were a cat being scratched. "So you think I'm handsome, even like this?"

"I didn't say _that_ ," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"But other than the necessary cleaning up and separation, nothing else will happen," he finally said. "Nothing"

Edea was quiet for a long moment, letting that stew. He seemed so confident, but - "Let's talk."

"Is that not what we're doing right now?"

"You know what I mean. I want to do something with you that isn't just…"

He finished the sentence for her, his voice soft. "Sex."

"Yes." Her cheeks felt a little hot, and she patted her face. "I just - still want to be friends."

Ringabel paused for a brief moment before he replied. "We _are_  friends, Edea. That won't change. I promise you that."

"Won't it?" Now that she knew how nice it was in his arms, she wasn't sure she could return to what they had. If it had been anyone else - well, she wasn't sure she would have slept with anyone else - or any other place, she could pretend it hadn't happened. But they were still trapped together, at least until tomorrow. She'd had to face him after the sex, over and over. And while there _really_  wasn't anything better to do right now but have sex to waste time and have some fun, she just couldn't be the type of person to pretend it didn't matter, especially when she knew it mattered to him. He said he loved her, after all.

"It won't," he repeated, firmly. "Even if other things change, we'll still be friends. You never have to worry about losing me."

She let out a sigh. "Let's just - what's your favorite color?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just humor me, Ringabel." She wanted to know more about him, if their relationship was going to change. They were still friends, but any more than that…? She wasn't sure.

"... then the answer is blue. You didn't know?"

"Oh, that makes sense. Like your jacket."

"Like your _eyes,_ " he corrected her, and when she looked up at him with surprise, her cheeks warm, he tapped her nose with a finger. "My favorite thing to see."

Her cheeks heated up even further. "Shut up." When he closed his mouth obediently, she squinted suspiciously at him, then said, "My favorite color is red. It's… bold. And bright. Powerful and strong."

He nodded. "So, Edea, when you're not snowed into a cabin with a devilishly handsome man, what do you like to do in your spare time... that isn't fighting?"

She ignored the first part of his question. "I like to knit and sew," she admitted. "Tiz and I sometimes take turns patching the clothing, but it's fun to design something new and original. I wish I could wear more dresses, sometimes."

"Me too. Er, I wish you could wear more dresses. When we go out on our date, will you wear one?"

"Maybe! Okay, so what do _you_  do? And don't tell me that you read smutty novels!"

"They're _romance_  novels, I'll have you know," he said stiffly, pouting. He shifted slightly in his seat as he thought, tapping his chin. "When I'm not piloting, I assume you mean, I do like to read or update my journal. I also sketch. You know that."

"Oh right. Did you ever want to be an artist? You're… really good." She hadn't known Alternis was so talented at art, or with his words. He was very poetic at times.  She still wasn't sure how she had managed to miss all of that, except for the fact that he tended to hide away when she was around.

"Thank you. I … may have considered it once or twice, as a child. Certainly, I decided I wanted to be of use to the Grand Marshal, so I never seriously pursued it, but he encouraged development of artistic stills all the same. Isn't that why he made you take piano lessons?"

"That's right," she said, surprised he had remembered.  She had hated going to lessons at first, but now she liked playing piano, so long as she wasn't being forced to do so in front of others for parties. "But you can be more than just useful."

Ringabel shifted on the couch, bringing up one leg underneath him. "I know that now, but… still, I like being useful." He gave her a wide smile, all teeth. "I'm kept around for more than just my looks."

She groaned, and reached up with one hand to cover that smug look of his. "Again, your looks never factored into it."

"Then it was my winning personality?" He flipped his hair, preening.

"It was your journal and your ability to pilot an airship, and you know it," she told him, shaking her head and pushing at his face as she thought of more questions. She already knew his favorite foods, the way he liked his coffee, his favorite type of clothing (for both himself and for women), and most of his background, considering that they had grown up together and travelled together for months besides. She even knew his pant size, owing to the many times they'd gone shopping together.

He waited for her, and after a few long minutes, she finally had a question to ask. "Who's the person you most want to meet?"

Ringabel thought, tilting his head. "In this world, or any world?"

It took her a moment to understanding the meaning behind his question, and when she did, she flushed. Oh… oh. "... Any world," she answered, already knowing what he would say.

But he surprised her. "My mother," he answered easily, definitively.

That wasn't the answer she'd been expecting. "Why? She abandoned you!"  As soon the words left her mouth, she flinched. She hadn't meant to say it quite that harshly. But despite the tactlessness of her words, he smiled gently all the same.

"She did. And I suppose, that is why I most want to meet with her. I would like to know why. That's all."

"You won't… hurt her or anything if you did have a chance to meet her, would you?" she asked, curious. Talking about Alternis's former parents had been a taboo subject as a child, but she'd always known he had harbored anger over it. Anger, and a lot of hate.

"Of course not," he said, frowning at her at the suggestion. "I would never hit a lady unprovoked. No, I only wish to speak with her."

"That's true. Well, if you won't hit her, _I_ will." Edea insisted. "What she did wasn't right. You suffered so much, you and Alternis." Ringabel was starting to look uncomfortable by the topic, but she continued regardless. "If you want to talk to her, I want her to see the man you've grown to be without her influence."

"And…?" he asked her, a small smile playing on his lips. "What sort of man is that, hmm? Do go on."

She'd fallen right into his trap, and she had only herself to blame. Leaning back somewhat with the shock, she had to think fast. "A good one!" she finally shouted. "A good man." With a good head on his shoulders when he wanted to use it. A handsome one who could be cute sometimes, even if he was a bit nerdy (a lot nerdy). And a kind one, who did what he could for people, whether he knew them or not. She knew Ringabel complained about men, but she'd also seen him buy food for countless homeless men before.

Ugh. She hated how easily she was falling for him now. Being around Ringabel was different than being around Alternis. He could be annoying, but he always made her feel supported. He could be _really_  annoying, but he always listened to her. He loved listening to her, and loved watching her, and loved… her.

She sighed again.

"Do you think the potatoes are done?"

"Maybe. But wait, I didn't ask you - if you could meet anyone in any world, who would it be?"

That was easy. "I already told you, Ringabel. It would be your mother. To tell her what a fool she was for leaving you. Now, potatoes."

Ringabel fetched the fire poker to check the potatoes, while she checked on the stew. To her relief, it was no longer only sludge, and she could easily ladle it into bowls for them to eat. Setting one down on the table for herself, she carried the other to him, holding it out.

"Whew! That's strong!" She could smell it, all of the spices. All of them.

Ringabel looked pained, and not only because he was trying to extract baked potatoes from the fire with his bare hands. "I ... "

"Eat my cooking, Ringabel. It's good for you." Or rather, if he knew what was good for him, he'd eat it. She wasn't going to let him waste anything, even if they planned on leaving the next day. They had to build up their strength for the trip out of the cabin. Moving through snow that thick could get tiring, fast, and… honestly, she figured they would probably have sex at least one more time.

With a sigh, he accepted the bowl from her, though he laid it down on the floor so that he could turn back to the fire before the baked potatoes burnt to a crisp. "I hope you're prepared for what might happen after this," he warned, brandishing the poker with both hands.

"What, no comment about spicing up our evening?" she asked once she returned to the kitchen table, mushing some of the potatoes in the stew with the back of a spoon.

"You stole my punchline!" he complained, pouting.

Ringabel finally managed to roll the potatoes out of the stove and to a tin plate she fetched for him, and only once he set them aside to cool and had joined her at the table did she actually try her food.

Heat rushed into her mouth, painful and sharp. But it was a good type of heat, warming her much more than the temperature. She looked across the table to Ringabel; his face was already beginning to turn red, sweat popping up on his forehead as he forced himself to take another bite.

She had to breathe through her mouth. "Is good!" she tried to say, but her tongue felt thick and unwieldy.

In response, Ringabel fetched them both glasses of snow to eat, halting in the kitchen when one shattered in his hands.

"Ringabel!" Edea gasped.

"Stay there!" he barked as he placed the surviving glass onto the table. She shrank back into her chair and watched him as he started to sweep up the glass shards on the floor with a half-rotted broom. Then, scolding herself, she stood up and went to fetch her shoes.

Stupid Dark Knight. Stupid Ringabel.

"I'll clean up," she said, returning with her shoes and fishing a potato piece out of the compost pile. "You eat."

He tried to protest, but when she stomped on his foot, he obediently hobbled back to the table, stealing her drink.

As soon as she was certain that she'd swept up all the small pieces of glass, and filled another unbroken one, she rejoined him at the table. Looking into her bowl of stew, she fished out a piece of potato that didn't seem too red. "Maybe I went overboard with the spices?" she said aloud. Ringabel had been gingerly forcing himself to swallow a few more spoonfuls of stew, and now gave her an entirely unimpressed look, though the effect was lost with his nose leaking and his cheeks red. She laughed nervously as he followed her lead, picking out the more edible portions with his fingers. "It'll be fine! We need the heat," she decided.

Right. Holding her nose, she tried to finish at least half the bowl. She wasn't going to let the food go to waste, but the meat and potatoes would be good for them.

As soon as she realized she couldn't take anymore, she pushed the bowl aside and reached for one of the plain baked potatoes he'd left on the plate. Cutting one open with the side of her spoon, she dug into it, praying it would alleviate some of the stinging pain that she felt all over her mouth.

They ate in silence, Ringabel switching to a baked potato as well, and it was only after she had finished two full potatoes that she finally stood up. Her mouth felt fuzzy.

"I'll clean up," she offered, taking his bowl from him. He'd eaten more than she had, the masochist. Ringabel nodded, wiping the sweat from his face with the back of a hand.

Clean up consisted of throwing their uneaten food into the small box that was the compost pile. The rest of the baked potatoes, she set aside under a dishtowel to help them retain their heat, and the pot of stew she covered up regrettably with a lid. Spice always got more potent the longer it sat. She hated to think how it would be tomorrow.

"Sometimes," she said aloud to a quiet cabin. Ringabel had retreated to the loft. "You can have too much of a good thing."

He looked down at her. "And what have we learned?"

"To always taste the meal as you cook it," she said, rolling her eyes as she approached the ladder. Alternis had tried to tell her that more than once, but sometimes she liked the surprise. Maybe not always, but sometimes. It usually wasn't this bad.

Climbing up the wooden ladder, she joined him by the small window in the loft. He had opened it, just enough to let in a small draft of cool air. It felt wonderful on her hot face.

There were blankets up here too, stored in dusty boxes amongst scattered, rotting belongings. Ringabel wordlessly retrieved a few and they spread one out on the floor to protect their skin from the dust and dirt as they lay down in front of the window to take advantage of the draft.

Not wanting to get too cold, Edea wiggled underneath him, making him laugh. He pulled another blanket up over his shoulder as he lifted himself up for her to fit underneath.

The light was always dim in the valley where Gravemark sat, but it was getting dimmer by the minute. Days were always short in Eternia, something she had always hated. And she hated it now, gazing across the snow covered fields. It was so high that she could barely see the gravemarkers. They showed as only specs of wood in the snow, covering the sad history of the village.

She was dimly aware of Ringabel kissing her neck, his lips grazing along the uncovered portion of her neck and shoulder. Shivering slightly from something that wasn't the cold, she shifted back against him, her bottom brushing against the front of his pants.

"People could see us," she whispered, though she knew there was no one outside. The cabin that the remaining survivors lived in was toward the front of the village, and they were several meters back. The structures that she could see were half-decrepit, parts of the roofs and walls caving. No one lived there.

No one was going to see them.

She rolled over to face him, cradling his face with her hands. By now, his nose had stopped running, and the cool air had chased away the redness brought on by the chilli pepper. No, now his cheeks were red from something else. Ringabel let out a soft noise and leaned his head to rub his cheek against hers. She made a face. "That scratches."

He laughed. "I told you! I need to shave." He really did. Rustic looking Ringabel was kind of cute, but she wasn't about to tell him that, just in case he decided he didn't need to adhere to grooming standards at all. Edea let out a sigh and kissed his cheek anyway, then his temple as he moved down to kiss her jaw.

His mouth ghosted along her pulse and she let out a soft noise, moving up against him. Already, his hands had slipped under the top that she had borrowed from him, bringing the fabric with it, over her stomach and chest - and then he pulled back so that the top could be removed entirely, where he threw it over the edge of the loft for later.

Just like earlier, he leaned down to warm her, tugging a nipple into his mouth. Edea arched up into his touch, whimpering as she heated instantly. One of his large hands palmed her other breast, the pliable flesh molding into his hands. His other hand reached out to her waistband to begin to tug her leggings down off her legs.

She cast another glance outside even as she lifted her hips to help him get her leggings off. The sun was going down over the mountains. Soon, it would be difficult to see anything… and soon, she was going to stop thinking, because Ringabel was continuing to kiss down the length of her body, his lips soft even if his chin was not. He peppered her stomach with gentle kiss, tugging only slightly at her flushed skin with her lips before moving down, trailing a path to her lower belly.

Propping herself up on her elbows so that she had a better view of what he was up to, she watched him as he sucked at her hip bone, his hands trailing across her bare thighs. Having his mouth so closer to her center made heat pulse in her, and she pressed her thighs together for some relief. She felt him smile and his hand now pushed at her opposite thigh, trying to part her legs.

She considered making him work for it, but on the other hand, the idea of his mouth on her core… when she parted her thighs for him, he made himself comfortable between them, kissing right below her naval and giving her a grin.

Her cheeks burned at the look in his eyes, barely visible in the light. It was tempting to kick him or something, maybe pull his hair or scratch his shoulders, but then before she could do anything, his tongue flicked down to lick against her slightly swollen clit and she jumped. His tongue was hot and made her tingle and it was - _good_. Spreading her thighs a bit further, she reached down to tangle her fingers in the hair at the back of his head as he continued to lap at her, tongue almost rough in its urgency.

She let out a single low moan, her head falling back at the pleasure coiling in her core. Right underneath his mouth, deep in her belly, that pool of heat was building with every motion of his mouth. Even the rough scratch of his chin against her sensitive parts couldn't cool her down, and neither could the air that drifted over them. Edea let herself fall onto her back so that she could cradle his head with both hands, tugging at his hair here and there to point him to neglected, wanting nerves.

He shifted slightly; though his tongue was doing most of the work against her sex, his fingers now trailed up her thigh and she felt the tips of two circle along her entrance, gently. Heat spiked in her as he slipped one in, even as his tongue curled around her clit - and kept spiking.

It was a different sort of heat than what she'd just felt building up in her belly. Gasping, she shoved him away.

"Edea?" he said, leaning back in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Ow, ow, ow," she said, fanning herself. She flushed at how this probably looked. "Ringabel! Did you… did you wash your hands?"

It took him a moment to understand what he meant, but then he must have recalled how he'd been picking food out of a soup filled with chilli pepper and - his face turned bright red, nearly as bright as it had been when he'd been eating said soup with chili pepper.

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, rocking back on his heels. "I - I - "

She grumbled at him. "Go wash your hands."

He nearly fell down the ladder in his haste to rush into the restroom. Meanwhile, Edea lay back on the blanket and awaited death.

…

That was a little dramatic.

As soon as the painful throbbing had subsided, she pulled her leggings back on and climbed down the ladder, wincing with every movement. Ringabel had yet to emerge from the chilly room he had exiled himself to. She wondered if he would at all, tonight. Sighing loudly to herself that the mood had been thoroughly shattered, she collapsed onto the bed and waited for him to return, staring up at the wooden ceiling.

He finally came out of the restroom some time later, his hands clean. In his hands he carried a cloth that she looked at curiously when he handed it to her.

"What's this?"

Ringabel had the grace to look mortified. "I opened the window and broke off some of the ice hanging from it. It's in there."

".... oh, thanks."

She'd considered getting snow, but this worked too.

Ringabel curled up beside her, after showing her that his hands were in fact, clean. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I didn't think-"

"It's fine," she replied, flapping a hand. "It's not the worst that could have happened." The worst could have been either of them falling from the loft, or rolling into the fire, or something like that. This was close, but she'd survive, even if she would hate him for a while.

He whined as he draped on her again, wrapping an arm around her bare waist. She hadn't put his shirt back on, nor reached for her own. "Forgive me?"

"I'll consider it," she replied. "But only if you make it up to me."

"Now or later?"

"Both!" Yes, both. He still owed her a date. As for now… she rolled over onto her stomach, pulling her hair over her shoulder. "Give me a massage. A good one."

Ringabel straddled the back of her thighs. He'd given her massages before, even before they were snowed into a small cabin, and usually did it this way. She was familiar with it by now, though the first time she'd kicked him in the back. This time... he grabbed her behind, startling her.

"Ringabel!" she hissed, bending her knee and knocking her heel into his butt. "Stop that!"

"I'm giving you a massage," he complained, kneading at her bottom. "That's all! Honest."

She wanted to continue to kick him, but it was starting to feel good. She'd had no idea her butt could feel so tense, and as he continued to massage, she began to relax, letting her head drop onto her crossed arms. Sighing, she closed her eyes and let him continue as he kneaded and prodded and moved his way up her back, his strong hands chasing out knots in her back and eventually her shoulders.

Okay, she'd let him live after all, especially when he popped her back along her spine, instantly releasing pressure. This was almost as satisfying as sex. Almost.

She was beginning to feel sleepy, though it was far too early for bed. But as she felt Ringabel begin to slow down, then stop, and instead cover her again as he had earlier, she let out another soft noise.

"I'll do you too," she promised, words slurred, and managed to open her eyes, elbowing him in the side as she sat up.

"If you're sure," he replied. "I would never turn it down."

She _was_  sure. It was polite, and she had a feeling his back was pretty tense after all their… activities… the past couple of days. As he lay on his stomach and she sat on his legs, she could see that she was right.

Her usage of White Magic had cured any scratches she had left on his pack, and had probably taken care of the worst of his tension. Still, when she dug her palms into his lower back, he groaned. She could feel knots all alongside his spine, and when she pressed down on it, bouncing slightly for better leverage, his back crackled.

"You're getting old," she teased him as she continue to pop his spine up toward his shoulders.

"How rude," he murmured, but then she was rubbing his shoulder blades in firm circles and he stopped talking, his breath catching as she meticulously kneaded out the firmness from his muscles. Just like a Dark Knight, to be wounded up so tightly.

Ringabel was practically melting under her touch, and it was very satisfying to hear him groan every time she hit sensitive, sore areas. Once she finished, and his back seemed relaxed and smooth (if not warm from all that released energy), she stretched out on top, pressing her breasts to his back.

"That was nice, wasn't it?" she said, smoothing some of his hair out of his face. He turned his head to the side so he could see her from one eye.

"Thank you," he replied, and lifted his head weakly in an attempt to kiss her. Instead of kissing his lips though, she let her lips fall against his ear.

"Do you want to take a nap?" she asked him. She knew he liked to take naps every day, even on days when he didn't do much aside from eat and sleep, and in this case, have sex.

He shook his head. "No, I'm not tired. Besides, I'd rather spend time with you. Are you still mad at me?"

"I wasn't mad at you in the first place," she replied. Well, she'd been a little mad. "I think we're even."

He rolled over, squashing her slightly into the bed until he could move over and off her. Edea made a face at him, then graciously allowed him to drag up a blanket over both of them and curl up beside her. He was so warm.

"I thought you weren't tired," she said, when he yawned right in her face. Ew, his breath was terrible. "I hope you brushed your teeth."

"I rinsed," he defended himself. "There's no tooth brushes here!"

That would have to do for now. She kissed his nose anyway, giggled when he scrunched it up.

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence. He closed his eyes and she searched his face, eyes sweeping over his pale features. She was getting used to seeing him so close. Seeing him so… intimately.

He opened hazel eyes and smiled at her. In the light weak of the lantern that was lit on the side of the bed, she could just barely see herself reflected in them.

"I'm not tired, just… sleepy."

"... that's the same thing as being tired."

"No, it's different, really. _Honestly_. Despite that, however, I want to stay awake with you. I want to enjoy this time with you." One of his arms slid around her waist and pulled her close. Edea was still trying to figure out what to do with her own arms, but managed to cuddle up to his side.

"I do too," she admitted. "It's… nice. When you're not being obnoxious, and we're not busy, and Airy isn't around to listen to. Though I wish Tiz and Agnes were here." She was beginning to miss them.

"Am I not enough for you?" He pouted.

"Not in the same way," she replied, rolling her eyes. Ringabel knew how to get on her nerves, even now. "You know I mean."

"I know. It's rare that we have any true down time. If we're not fighting, we're preparing to fight. If we're not doing that, we have other things to do."

"We don't have enough to do here. That's why we had to resort to sleeping together."

"You're not complaining."

"No, I'm not." She kissed his chin, then hesitated. There was a question she wanted to ask him, but now she doesn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

Ringabel went quiet for a long moment, as though thinking, before he looked back over at her. "Let's go back to talking."

"Aren't we already doing that?" she asked, mirroring his words from earlier. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"This is your chance to find out my secrets. You truly don't wish to know?"

"I'm not sure I want to know your 'secrets'," she said. "I bet you don't even know half of them to begin with! You still have a mostly-empty head."

"I'll have you know it's only a _little_ empty by now! And filling up more each day."

She giggled. There was no way she could have ever joked about something like this with Alternis. He would have been offended, irritated, or worse, hurt at such a joke. But Ringabel usually took such comments in stride and even made some of his own. It was nice not to have to walk on eggshells with someone. That was what she loved about all her friends.

Ringabel's thumb stroked her cheek, and she looked up into his eyes. They were so full of tenderness that it almost took her breath away. And then he opened his mouth.

"Filling up with thoughts of you, you know," he said, his voice low.

"... what kind of cheesy line is that?" she asked, but the effect wasn't entirely lost on her.  She ducked her head against his chest, blushing.

"It isn't cheesy. It was heartfelt! Have you no sense of romance, Edea?"

"I have plenty of sense. Now you? I'm not sure about."

He pouted, she laughed, and they continued to banter and chat as the night wore on, until long after the flame in the lantern went out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fic is finished so updates will be 1 a week until completion. My Tumblr @ hanatomame has more info!


	6. Day 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another morning and a rescue

Ringabel was no stranger to odd dreams. He had them nearly every night, even before his memories returned. Dreams that were memories of the past, his life rushing past him. Dreams that were a combination of the future and the present, melding together into some distorted prophecy. Dreams that were only dreams, of a life full of happiness and joy with people long gone.  He was used to recounting his dreams, even going so far as to write some of them down in a dream journal he had picked up on a whim.

This dream, though, escaped his mind the moment he woke. He knew he’d had one, he clearly felt it, but he couldn’t remember a single thing. Or perhaps he was mistaken and he hadn’t dreamt at all. He’d had a dreamless night of sleep the previous night, after he and Edea had finished…

Edea was cuddled against his side, her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her, noting the way that her eyes scrunched up, her lips pouted. She was topless, as was he, so he held her tighter against the cold and waited for her to wake.

He was hungry, no small thanks to her disastrous cooking the previous day (he would just ignore how it had been his fault for leaving the cooking fire on high in the first place), but despite that, felt no rush to get out of bed. He wanted to keep holding her, as long as he could. He wasn’t sure if they could keep this up outside of the cabin, after all. He’d promised nothing would change between them, and if that meant no more sex or cuddling or kisses, then… that would be what it meant.

For now, he would take advantage of the time they had left and lounge around in bed, feeling remarkably well-rested. He and Edea had talked until late, and he wasn’t even really sure when he’d actually fallen asleep, but he’d slept well, all things considered. Leaning back against the nest of blankets, he watched her sleep as he ran his hand down through her hair.

After some time, she stirred and stretched. “Good morning,” he said quietly.

“Morning,” she replied, eyes still closed. “Kiss my nose. It’s cold.”

Laughing, he gladly did so. “And? What else is cold?”

She took a moment to answer, as though thinking about it. “Everything,” she finally said..

“Ah, well. We have a problem then, don’t we?”

Rolling over until he could cover her thoroughly, Ringabel kept his full weight off her by way of his forearms, knees on either side of her legs. Edea reached up to cradle his face; in return, he kissed her forehead, then made his way down her nose to her slightly chapped lips, humming against her mouth. She eagerly kissed him back, her lips pressing against his own before she leaned back.

“Be quick so we can eat,” she mumbled, but a small smile played on her lips as she opened her eyes to look at him.

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” he promised, before privately adding that he wouldn’t be  _too_  fast because he had a reputation he wanted to keep, even if he doubted Edea would spread stories about their encounters.

She wiggled under him. “And be careful, please.”

“I told you I washed my hands.” One mistake and she no longer trusted him? Ringabel pouted at her, then nudged her nose with his. “Why don’t you roll over?”

“Why?” she asked, but did so anyway until she was on her belly, cushioning her head on her crossed arms. It was similar to how she’d been yesterday when he’d massaged her back, only this time she was wiggling her behind, lifting herself off the bed just enough to brush against the front of his pants. He tried to ignore that.

“Because,” he replied, pulling her hair out of the way enough so that he could kiss her neck as he lay back on top of her. “You should trust me.”

“I do trust you,” Edea said, and went quiet, her eyes slipping shut as he kissed her shoulder, his lips caressing her skin.

He used his nails to lightly, very lightly, scratch little circles across her back as he kissed his way down, leaving wet marks down her spine. Edea started to moan, squirming slightly underneath him, but unable to move away or touch him in return. When he reached the hem of her leggings, he began to pull them down off her hips - she helpfully lifted them - and to her knees.

Then he smacked her bare bottom.

“Ringabel!” Edea gasped, more in shock than in any sort of pain. “What are you doing?”

“Just admiring the view,” he replied, trying not to laugh and dodging the leg she kicked back at him. “I won’t do it again, sorry.” But he could slide his fingers, carefully down between her legs so that he could stroke her. To his delight, she was already somewhat slick and more than a little hot, and his fingers could enter her easily. “Unless you want me to,” he added as an afterthought.

“… not right now,” she replied eventually.

Pressing his lips together so that she couldn’t possibly see any hint of a smile on his face, he continued to stroke her gently, attempting to make up for the terrible mistake from yesterday. In response, her thighs parted further for him, letting him rub further until he hit her clit. This, he toyed with, rubbing in slow circles against it as he felt her breath catch. She pressed her cheek against her arm, trying to muffle the noise she made.

Seeing her like this was making his pants tight. Shifting so that he could cover her, he kissed her shoulder. Being that he was supporting his weight on one forearm, he had to pull his fingers away from her so that he could unfasten his pants and shove them unceremoniously down, away from his aching erection. As he worked himself up to further hardness, his grip was made easier by Edea’s juices covering his palm.

Once more, Edea lifted her hips slightly off the bed to give him better access, but he wasn’t sure that he needed it. This was… a new position, but it didn’t take much figuring out how to press his manhood against her ready entrance, even from behind, and slip into her.

She sighed.

“Does it hurt?” he asked, always concerned. He didn’t think it would, by now, but what did he know about these things?

“No,” she replied, and then she shifted and propped herself up on one elbow so that she could turn halfway and look at him. “It feels nice.”

Good. He was glad. The last thing he wanted to ever do was hurt her, especially in regards to this. Nodding, he kissed her again as he started to move, his hips rocking slowly and carefully at first, to make sure that he didn’t actually slip out of her when he didn’t mean to. For now, he wanted to take it steady with her. As deeply satisfying as it was when he came after taking her roughly, this was possibly their last time. He wanted it to be special… like their first time should have been.

Lowering himself slightly, so that he could press against her back, he nuzzled her. The arm that wasn’t supporting his weight came up to wind around her waist and help keep her close to him. Edea smiled, almost shyly, and kissed him. In return, he pressed a little deep into her and heard her squeak.

His eyes slipped shut almost of their own accord; pleasure was building up in him and making his limbs feel heavy. Warmth coiled in his lower belly as he rocked into Edea over and over, taking care with her. She couldn’t move very much in this way, but as long as he could be close to her, that was fine. For a few moments, he wanted to stay like this forever, wrapped up with Edea in a warm cocoon of love and tenderness, pleasing her and feeling pleasure himself by the very act.

And then someone knocked on the door.

He actually wasn’t sure he heard it at first, because Edea had let out a moan at the same time, but his movements slowed, then stopped, as he looked over his shoulder.

“What is it?” she grumbled.

“I thought I heard…”

Someone knocked on the door again, this time a little more urgent and louder.

Ringabel scrambled to get to his feet, nearly tripping over the pants that had gathered at his ankles. Edea, in the same movement, rolled over to grab her leggings and pull them back up, and they stumbled into each other.

“Get dressed,” he hissed to her as he managed to climb to his feet. Yanking his pants up to his waist and fastening them tightly, forcing himself to ignore the pain, he wasted a few moments looking for his shirt before deciding that answering the door and buying Edea time to get dressed was probably more important.

… there was a towel. He’d use that.

Whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again, and he worried they would just break the door down if there was no answer.

“I’m coming!” he shouted as he draped the towel over his shoulders and crossed the room. Edea had located her bandeau and was tugging it on.

The moment he had unlatched it, the door flew open.

“Tiz! Agnès!” he gasped as his friends piled into the room, snow tumbling with them around their feet and his. Ringabel danced back from it; he had left his shoes by the bed. Glancing in that direction, he thanked his lucky stars that the blankets on the screen kept Edea from view as she dressed.

“Ringabel!” Agnès said, grasping his arm. “Are you alright? You look…”

“Of course I am,” he replied, a little embarrassed she was seeing him in such a state, but oddly touched by her concern all the same. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Tiz was looking around the cabin, the younger boy’s brows furrowed as he took it all in, especially when his eyes swept over Ringabel’s half-nude form. Then he frowned, “The blizzard?  When you didn’t return to Eternia, we thought you two got caught up in it. We were worried.”

“Sorry, I forgot,” Ringabel said dumbly. He should have known.

“… Where’s Edea?” Agnès asked him, her hands falling from his arms.

“I’m right here!” Edea called, coming around the side of the screen. She had located her undershirt as well, and looked more or less fully dressed. “Sorry to worry you.”

“Did you dig through to us?” Ringabel asked, feeling his chest ache at the thought of his friends traveling all the way from Eternia in deep snow to find them.

“We waited a couple of days for them to clear the road,” Tiz said as Agnès went to Edea’s side to check her over. “But we got to Gravemark last night. We stayed in the cabin with the old men until morning.”

“Oh.”

Tiz rested a shovel against one of the kitchen counters. As Ringabel moved to close the door, he could see the path they had created from the other cabin.

“We got heavy snow in Norende now and then,” Tiz explained further. “I’ve had to dig out to the barn more than once. It’s not that bad.”

“No, not once you know how to do it,” Ringabel agreed. “It’s common here in Eternia.”

“Then why didn’t you do it?” Tiz asked, curious. Agnès and Edea were sitting on the couch now, chatting, and Ringabel wanted to join them. His feet were now freezing and wet from the snow. In fact… gesturing to Tiz, he made his way over there now, stopping to pick up some firewood.

He fed the wood to fire so that it would blaze higher, and gingerly sat on the edge of the couch next to Edea, grabbing one of his feet in his hands to massage some warmth back into it.

“Where are your shoes?” Edea asked him.

“By the bed,” he replied. “I forgot to put them back on.”

“Did you both just get up?” Tiz asked, looking them over.

“We’ve been sleeping in,” Edea lied easily. “It’s so much warmer in the bed than in the cabin itself.”

“Together?” asked Agnès, surprised.

“How else are we going to stay warm?” Ringabel said, laughing somewhat. “When in the cold, it’s best to share body heat, and it wasn’t safe to sleep by the fire.” Agnès avoided cold when she could, but they had all shared a bed at one point or another for warmth. She’d understand that much.

“Give me your other foot,” Edea told him, frowning as she watched him continue to rub his foot. Tiz sat on the floor by the fire, drawing his knees up. Ringabel wanted to do the same, but - as requested, he shifted enough so that Edea could take right foot in hand. “The last thing we want is for you to get frostbite now or something.”

Agnès and Tiz were watching, and so he had to swallow down any inappropriate comments. No wait, they would expect him to make at least one. “You just want an excuse to put your hands on me,” he said.

Edea gave him a withering glare. “Tiz, grab a coal from the fire.”

“No, no, please!” Ringabel said quickly, though he doubted Tiz would do as asked.

Agnès was giggling. “I see you are the same as always.”

“Well, I haven’t killed him yet, so that’s always a positive,” Edea said, continuing to rub his feet. It felt  _heavenly_ , warmth aside, and it was taking every last bit of his self-control to keep from moaning in delight.  "Where’s Airy?“

"She stayed in Eternia,” Tiz said. “To keep an eye on our belongings, and because she didn’t want to get lost in the snow drifts.” And also, likely because Airy hated the cold almost as much as Agnès did and avoided it if she could.

“It’s likely just as well,” Ringabel said. “If she were to need something to eat, we don’t have much here that would suit her.”

“How have you two been faring?” Tiz asked, looking around. “There's… not much here. The men told us that there were extra supplies in the cabin, and that they had seen the smoke from the fire, so they figured you were fine. But even they weren’t sure what the supplies were.”

“Lots of blankets,” Ringabel said. “Some non-perishable food supplies, though a lot of it is already rotten. We were actually down to the last of it.”

“You never did say why you hadn’t left yet,” Tiz pointed out.

Edea shook her head. “We’re in a valley, remember? And there’s hills. Together, it caused the snow to build up higher than even Ringabel’s head at first. We’ve been waiting for it to melt.”

“Really?” Agnès’s eyes were wide. “That much?”

“It happens now and then, though it’s becoming more rare in the city of Eternia itself.” Ringabel flexed his foot as Edea let go of it. It was warm, almost tingly now. “I wasn’t about to risk it by digging out of snow that deep. Too much can go wrong.”

“We always lose people every year who get into snow that’s too deep. They suffocate, or end up freezing to death.” Edea explained for him.

“I was actually going to start digging out today, in fact,” Ringabel informed the brunettes. “But you beat me to it!”

“That certainly explains why it took them a few days to clear the roads,” Tiz said, running his hand through his hair. “Well, I’m glad you two are safe.”

“As am I,” Agnès said, smiling brilliantly at them both. “Are you ready to leave?”

“I’ve been ready to leave,” Edea groaned, stretching her hands above her head. “No offense, Ringabel.”

“None taken,” he murmured, forcing himself to sound natural. Normal. Just a little while ago they’d been in the middle of making love, and now it was as though the past few days had never happened. He  _had_  promised her that nothing would change, but he wasn’t sure he liked it this way. Stalling for time, he turned to Tiz and Agnès. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not since yesterday,” Tiz confessed.

“We didn’t want to use the supplies of the men who live here. They need it more than we do,” Agnès elaborated.

“Well, you’re in luck!” Edea said, hopping to her feet. “I made dinner last night! It’s not much, but it’ll fill you up and warm you just fine.”

Ringabel pressed his lips together, wondering if he should warn the others, then stood. “While you get breakfast ready, I’m going to clean up and dress,” he decided.

“Good idea,” Tiz said. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back to Eternia.”

“I can’t wait to have a shower,” Edea sighed. “A nice, hot shower.” She tugged on Agnès's arm to pull her into the kitchen to heat up the food.

As Ringabel walked back into the sleeping area to find the rest of his clothes, he heard Agnès ask. “Edea, why is your stew red?”

“And what’s this basin of water doing here?” Tiz chimed in.

… Edea could handle that, Ringabel decided, and instead focused on finding his shirt. He’d thrown it over the side of the loft last night, but hadn’t paid attention to where it might’ve landed. Oh, and he should probably put his underwear back on instead of just wearing his pants…

Tiz came around the side of the screen and came up short. “Oh. This looks nice,” the other boy said, stopping to admire the wood work on the bed.

“It belonged to her grandparents,” Ringabel explained. He was kneeling on the other side of the bed, and while Tiz couldn’t see him, stuffing his underwear into his pocket. He’d go and dress correctly in the restroom.

“Whose? Edea’s?”

“Yes. That’s why it’s in such good shape. The village keepers have been watching after it.” Ringabel found his socks, at least, and gathered his shoes, sitting on the edge of the bed. Tiz smoothed his hands over the pile of blankets, his brow furrowing.

“It reminds me a lot of home,” Tiz said. “But our cabin wasn’t one room. I shared a room with Til, and my parents had the other room.” He trailed off.

“Maybe they meant to expand it?” Ringabel guessed. “There is the loft, though. There’s plenty of room for a child to sleep there, once he’s old enough to climb the ladder.” Speaking of ladder - his eyes strayed to it, and he finally caught sight of his undershirt hanging from the edge of the armoire. Frowning, he went to fetch it.

“… I’m not going to ask why your shirt was over there,” Tiz mumbled. When Ringabel looked back at him, his face was red.

Ringabel smirked. “Goodness Tiz, what are you thinking?”

He knew exactly what Tiz was thinking, especially when the boy looked down at the bed, then the floor, and jumped away, his flush deepening.

Ringabel pulled his shirt on over his head. That was better. His jacket still hung by the door, but he could fetch that momentarily.

“Are you sure you and Edea are okay?” Tiz asked as Ringabel decided to at least put on his socks, even if he would leave his boots until later. He’d have to take them off to put on his underwear anyway, so there was no point.

“What do you mean?” Ringabel asked, distracted by Edea’s laughter drifting from the kitchen. She sounded so happy. “We’re fine. You can see that clearly, though I would really like to shave and shower properly.”

Tiz kicked something over in his direction. Looking down, Ringabel realized what Tiz had seen that had spooked him so. Edea’s panties had been left on the floor.

Ringabel stared at them, then looked back at Tiz. He opened his mouth, then closed it. “Edea!” he finally called. “Can you come here for a moment, dear?”

“I’m busy!” she called back.

“I really must insist!”

He could hear Agnès from here. “I’ll take over, Edea. You should go see what he wants.”

Edea grumbled on her way over, and stopped just on the other side of the screen. “What is it?”

Ringabel pointed to the small pile of fabric in front of him. “You forgot something.”

Her cheeks bloomed pink, and her eyes darted between him and Tiz, who was standing there woodenly. “Oh. Thanks,” she said, and picked up her panties quickly. “Um… did you tell him?”

“No, he found them.”

Tiz closed his eyes and lifted a hand to his forehead. “Spare me the details, please. Actually, I don’t want to know. Don’t tell me.”

Ringabel’s eyes met Edea’s, and he could see in her eyes the same things that he felt. “We’re fine,” is what he decided to tell Tiz. “Nothing’s going to change.”

“Except me. Tiz, can you go help Agnès? We’re trying to get more potatoes in the fire to bake,” Edea explained, stepping further behind the screen. “I’m going to put these on.”

“I’m going,” Tiz replied, hurrying away for more than one reason. “Agnès, what do you need help with?”

As he left the sleeping area, Ringabel let out a loud sigh. “I truly didn’t say anything to him. He found your panties and came to the conclusion himself.”

“Well, he’s not wrong,” Edea said, shaking her head. As Ringabel watched, she stripped out of her leggings and began to redress herself. His gaze lingered on the apex of her legs. “We… weren’t exactly prepared to rejoin them. I can’t believe I forgot these.”

“No,” Ringabel murmured. His arousal had been killed the instant he realized they had company, but he wanted to take her back into his arms, at least.

As soon as her leggings were back on her legs, she paused, rubbing her arms in thought. “Like Tiz said, we don’t have to tell them the details. All they have to know is that we're…”

His heart jumped with something a little like hope. “We’re?”

“Close,” Edea seemed to decide on. “We’re close. Closer. And when we’re back in Eternia and things are almost normal, we’ll talk about what else we might be… okay?”

Close. Closer. That wasn’t so bad. He nodded mutely, and even offered her a smile when she leaned in to kiss his cheek. He had known that this had a chance of happening, and yet - he wasn’t ready. It was selfish to wish that Tiz and Agnès hadn’t appeared when they had.

“I’m going to tidy up,” he decided, and slipped into the restroom. The tiny room was frigid as always, but it gave him the smallest amount of privacy that he needed to hunch over and tug his hands anxiously through his hair for as long as he wanted.

As soon as he was once more fully dressed, he joined the rest of his friends for a meal. Agnès and Tiz couldn’t stomach more than a few bites of Edea’s stew, but the meat was edible once picked out of the broth, and the potatoes were filling. It would be enough until they made it back to the city.

Together, the four of them straightened up the cabin, folding blankets and washing dishes. Extinguishing fires. Cleaning out the fireplaces and stoves. Breaking up the empty wooden crates to be stacked in the firewood cubby. Mopping up melted snow. By the time they were ready to leave, it was well past noon.

Finally. Journal, sword, clothes, shoes, pack. Tiz had even brought an extra pack with him, so they could wrap up the uneaten baked potatoes for later. Ringabel went through his mental checklist repeatedly as they gathered their own items.

“Do we have everything?” Edea asked him. Agnès was right behind Tiz as he started out the door, shovel in hand.

“I believe so,” he replied, eyes darting around. The loft was empty of all but the extra blankets and boxes. They had taken the covers off the wooden screen, and so he could see the bed, just barely, through the ornamental carvings in it. It was cleared of everything but a singular blanket. The drawers of the armoire were clear, they had made sure of that. Edea’s sword was at her hip, his own was in his hand, and his journal was in his pocket where it belonged. The fires were all out. The cabin was dark.

Everything was the same as when they arrived, except… he looked down at Edea, who smiled reassuringly at him, touching his arm.

“We can’t come back,” she reminded him, blinking clear blue eyes that reflected the light of the sun. The sky was clear, a rarity. “To this cabin, or… what  _we_  had before.”

“I know,” he replied. She bit her lip, then nodded, and turned to make her way through the path their two friends had cleared.

Ringabel lingered for just a moment longer, eyes sweeping around the cabin for the last time. Then, he closed the door and followed her.


	7. Day 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they’ve been “rescued” they all return to Eternia. After staying in the best inn bed he’s ever stayed in, Ringabel finds that... he can’t sleep alone again.

The bed was soft, and the covers even softer. The pillow was fresh and new, and smelled vaguely of lavender, one of his favorite scents. With a contented sigh, Ringabel snuggled down into it all, pulling the comforter tighter over his shoulders. He was never leaving it, or the warm inn room again.

No matter what Tiz would say.

"Are you really going to stay there all day?" the younger man asked him dryly, leaning over to prod him for the fifth time that hour.

"Yes," Ringabel replied, eyes still closed. "Does that bother you?"

"Agnes and I are going out to eat, and then shopping," Tiz said, as though testing Ringabel's resolve. "Maybe for clothes."

Ringabel paused. It  _was_  rather tempting to get out of bed to either accompany or spy on the two, but… "Very well." He wiggled one of his hands out of the covers to give Tiz a thumbs-up. "Have fun! Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Opening his eyes, he gave Tiz a wink.

Tiz whacked him with a pillow stolen from the other bed. Ringabel grabbed it and covered his head.

When the door finally closed, Ringabel rolled over to block out the worst of the sun and attempted to get more sleep.

They had returned to Eternia very late the previous evening. After eating a quick but filling steak dinner, Ringabel had returned to the inn and immediately jumped into a long, hot shower to finally, properly, cleanse himself of all the grime that had built up; he knew Edea had done the same. Then he'd stayed up even later to groom himself; shave his face, moisturize his skin, and put on lip treatment so they could remain kissably soft. He'd only just gone to bed a few hours ago, and had discovered to his dismay that… he couldn't sleep.

The bed was warmed by a brick that had been heated by the fire, but it was no substitute for the warmth of another person; he knew that well now. For hours he had tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable and stay warm, but nothing had worked. He was sure had fallen asleep eventually, because Tiz had woken him, but Ringabel could not remember when.

Tiz had been pestering him for at least the last hour to do  _something_  productive as the younger boy had gotten ready for the day, but Ringabel wasn't ready to leave the bed yet. He still wanted some time to himself, after spending nearly an entire week alone with Edea. An entire week… hah, he was still an amateur. Eventually, he would have to build himself up to spending years with her, though at least when they married, they wouldn't be trapped in a small cabin together. Probably.

He had just started to doze back off when the door bounced open, hitting the wall and jolting him. Hissing with irritation, he grabbed his pillow and threw it in the general direction of the door without looking. "For the last  _time_ , Tiz, I want to - "

"It's me," Edea interrupted him.

Ringabel's eyes flew open and he sat up to see her.

She had caught the pillow, because of course she had, and now she tossed it back to him before turning to close the door. She was dressed in a long, thick nightgown that fell to her calves, and slippers. The slippers she toed off as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing here?" Ringabel asked her, placing the pillow back down on the bed. He scooted over, more toward the left side than straight in the middle, to give her enough room. "I thought you would be going out with the others."

"No, I told Agnes I wanted to rest without company," Edea explained. "I… really couldn't sleep last night." She brought her hands up to her chest in thought.

Ringabel hesitated for just a fraction of a second before he lifted the edge of his comforter. Taking the wordless invitation, she slipped underneath the heavy blanket, wiggling until she was beside him.

"The bed was so empty," she said as she wound her legs through his.

"I know," he replied. "I felt the same way. Even if - even taking out what we did together, it was still nice, having you beside me. Listening to you breathe. Watching you sleep."

"Let's not get creepy about this," Edea said hastily, shaking her head. "Seriously, Ringabel. You should be more careful about what you say."

"Sorry."

With a soft noise, she made to nestle against his shoulder. Ringabel couldn't help the fond smile that spread on his face as he adjusted for her, rolling over only slightly to his side so that she could be close, and lay on his shoulder without killing his arm overnight. Even though the layers of flannel that they wore, he could still  _feel_  her, and her body heat was warming him from head to toes.

Edea nuzzled his shoulder, and his heart did a little jump. "You showered," she said.

"Obviously," Ringabel couldn't help but retort. "Women aren't usually attracted to a man that smells." There was a difference between some natural musk, and the stench that came with barely bathing for an entire week while still performing vigorous activities.

She snorted. "What women are you trying to attract, exactly?"

Ringabel started to reply with the usual answer - any women who would have him - but found that he couldn't say. "I…" he trailed off, thoughtful.

What women  _was_  he trying to attract, really? He had something with Edea now, whatever it was, which is what he had always wanted. The idea of attracting any other woman didn't hold as much appeal as it once had, now.

Rather than answer, he averted the question. "You showered, too."

"Of course. I wasn't going to keep running around smelling like you."

"And what does  _that_  mean?" Already, despite his tiredness, he was feeling much better. Having Edea at his side felt more natural than a large, empty bed. She seemed to think the same way, judging by the way she wrapped her arm around his waist.

"You know what it means. I smelled enough to make people run screaming away from me. Just like you."

"Oh very funny."

"Besides," she added now, her voice sobering. "We had a lot of sex. I probably did smell like you."

He pressed his lips together. It was the first time since they'd been so rudely interrupted that they had even mentioned the sex aloud, though he knew Tiz definitely had his suspicious when they had alluded it to.

"How are you feeling?" he asked slowly. "Sore at all?"

"No, I'm fine. You were really gentle." He jumped as her hand slid away from his waist to touch his stomach, then his chest. "I was… close," she admitted. "Really close. When we got interrupted, I mean."

"I was too. I still can't believe that happened." It was mortifying, even the next day. "Did you… want to continue?" He wasn't sure why else she might be here, bringing this up. They hadn't agreed not to talk about it, but...

"No. Not now, at least. I'm way too tired. I told you I couldn't sleep well." She rested her head against his shoulder again, thoughtful.

"Later, then?" He tried to sound cool, but his heart beat in his chest at the thought that they may be able to continue what they had started, this new relationship of theirs, whatever it could be called.

"I think I'd like that. It was… nice."

"I like you," he said dumbly.

Edea let out a loud sigh and tapped him lightly on the chest. "Ringabel! Timing!" But then she gave him a smile regardless. "I like you, too." She scooted up to kiss his cheek.

Ringabel squeezed her around the waist. He knew Edea liked him as a dear friend, of course, but what did  _this_  mean? He had confessed his own feelings, or tried too, at least, but he knew she wanted space and  - did a few hours count? Had that been enough for her?  She said wanted to keep having sex with him, so that must mean something, right?

She seemed to know what he was thinking. "I'm still trying to figure the specifics out," she said. "In the meantime, things don't have to change between us even if we're… you know."

He frowned. "I don't have one-night stands."

Edea shook her head. "I'm not saying you do. And  _really_ , you should know I don't either!" She gave him another, stronger tap. "I just want to - I want to figure out what this makes us, Ringabel."

He had some ideas, but for once, he wisely kept his mouth shut,

"We'll… talk more later," she decided, laying her head back down against his shoulder. "We're still tired, I think, and we haven't really had that space we wanted. Let's just sleep for a while and then I'll go back to my room."

"We can share rooms later if you want," he suggested. "So you can always be in bed with me. We'll save money, too! That means more money for shopping. New clothes!"

"Tempting. But… we'll see."

She gave him one final kiss to his smooth jaw before closing her eyes and letting out a long sigh. Ringabel wrapped both arms around her and held her tight. She was comfortable and warm, and very soft in his arms. His eyes roamed her face as she slightly started to unwind, tension leaving her features. If he could hold her in his arms like this, he was fine with whatever direction their relationship went.

As long as he had her warmth.

His eyes slipping shut, he finally surrendered himself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, folks! That's the end of this story, though I do have some other fanfics that allude to it I'll maybe eventually post. I had a lot of fun writing this, and hope you enjoyed it too!


End file.
